Happy Father's Day!!

The girls saw this hammock a long time ago and right away said, "We should get that for Daddy so he can relax when his yard is done." The yard project was done Tuesday (pictures coming soon) so the hammock was the perfect Father's Day present this year! The girls planned the whole thing! They were so excited!

1st we had to set the thing up without Daddy's help. I kept saying, "This is why we have Daddy's around!" :) Then we had a plan to hide it next door...the girls kept asking, "Did you ask them? Did you ask them?" Yes, I asked, but it fit perfectly, folded up behind the shed.

Then, Father's Day morning: 1--blindfold Daddy!
Take him outside and sit him in the hammock (without tipping him over)



2--Give him his gifts and breakfast!
(If you click on this picture with Thomas you can see the shirt I got Matt for his first Father's Day. It's Kaylee on the shirt...she and Thomas look so much alike!)



3--leave Mommy and Daddy alone so they can take a nap!



So far it's been a terrific morning! Hopefully for Matt too! ;) He really is the perfect Daddy! His girls have been looking forward to this day for a long time. They adore their Daddy and will do anything for him! Thomas is his little buddy! Thank you Matt for all that you do for us! Your yard looks amazing! Now relax and enjoy it!

Happy Father's Day to all of our Daddys and Grandpas.
We love you and hope you have a wonderful day!

Our first camping trip!

Well, we tried to go on our first camping trip of the season! Since we didn't go much last summer we have been so excited to get out a bunch this summer. Especially with Thomas! This was kinda his first camping trip, except we didn't actually stay and camp. Grandma and Grandpa Gardner had already camped a night with the cousins so after Matt got off work Friday we were gonna go meet up with them and camp another night. It was pouring rain when we left...when we got up there...and as we came back home. We could've tried to set up the tent and brave it...we LOVE sleeping in the rain, but only when we start out dry! So we had dinner, played games and drove home to our dry, warm beds. It was still fun and at least we got practice packing things up for a REAL camping trip!

Oh, and Thomas is 11 months old today!! Almost a year! I can't believe it! Here is his newest trick!

You Lookin' At Me?

When we got the invitation to Kyle and Nicole’s wedding I knew I did not want to miss out on any part of the “festivities”. Kyle’s dad is my cousin and I have always LOVED the feeling that is in their home. I knew these couple of days would be very special, fun and entertaining! Monday night was the dinner up at temple square. It was in the Joseph Smith Memorial building overlooking the Salt Lake temple. Matt and I got to sit at the teenager table with the coolest teenagers on the planet! Tuesday was their sealing in the Mount Timpanogos Temple and then Tuesday night was the reception where my kids ate, danced, laughed and then fell asleep the second they got in the car to drive home! It really was a blast!

Quick note to those that will ever have to plan a wedding…this photo booth idea was the best!! As a guest we were to go get our pictures taken and then we got to keep this copy and a copy went onto a scrapbook page where we signed our congratulations like you would normally do in a guestbook. It was a great idea and fun for us! ;) (Matt went to shovel sandbags for the city so he missed the reception—I bet we could Photoshop him into these pictures!)

Matt makes fun of me because I really could sit at the temple and watch brides all day long. We found out that my other hobby would be to walk around and take pictures of people. No…I could never be a professional photographer, I don’t have the talent or creativity for that, plus it’s too much pressure. I just have so much fun watching people trying to turn the camera around and get a picture with their sweetheart with the temple behind them. I love being the roaming person that says, “Hey, let me take that for you.” The picture I would take will always turn out better than one with the self portrait arm holding the camera out (although those do make for good pictures too) so like I said, no pressure and everyone is happy. (Hopefully even my sweet hubby who is laughing at me a distance away)

Matt and I really had a special time together at temple square Monday night and then in the Timpanogos Temple on Tuesday. The more we go to see a couple or a family sealed together the more we feel that sealing power. Matt said he wished he had paid more attention to that feeling when we were married. Yesterday we knew that the priesthood had just authorized and created this eternal family. You could feel the spirit testify of that. I know that when we got married we felt that, but now that we have been married for 10 years and have a family of our own we understand it so much more; as we witness that sealing now, we feel it so much stronger. For my children’s sake, I really wish I was able to express my feelings better after a day like that. I hope that as we talked to the girls about the temple yesterday that they could feel how special it was and how remarkable the temple is! “A Family is Forever”

When I Grow Up

These posts have had a lot of videos. I hope they are working for those that really want to sit through them all. ;) This one will be mostly video too. Kaylee, the star, Taylor, the baker, and Emily, the teacher had so much fun in this year's children's choir performances. They did the show 3 times and just kept getting better and better! I LOVE working with all of these kids and especially with their director! She is so much fun and such a dear friend! Which reminds me....I never did post our pictures from when they sang the National Anthem at a flash game in March. So here are some of those too.











Enjoy the videos. Here is a little run down of what they are.

1--Kaylee's line...you can hear her so I don't need to retype it!

2--Kaylee and her really good friend as the stars! I couldn't believe these two! I had watched them practice and rehearse every Monday, and then all of a sudden at the dress rehearsal they really really performed this! It was so fun to see them as the older kids in the choir. They did amazing!

3--Taylor with her line and her baker solo....after someone says she is always hungry she says, "I know, and I never seem to get enough to eat. The other day when I asked my mom for a piece of pie, she said no, two pieces is enough. I don't know how she expects me to eat right if she won't let me practice." Then after someone asks what she wants to be when she grows up she says, "you mean you have to ask" and then sings, "Baker, I wanna be a baker. Not a belly-acher. A baker that's for me!"

4--Emily saying, "and we are really free to choose whatever it is that we want to be"

5--Emily, in her best Boston accent, singing "You'd better call me first". And then you have to watch the kids with these plungers. The little astronaut in the middle was hilarious this night! Emily was so brave in these shows! She is usually scared and timid about stuff like this but she had a blast!! All of the girls were amazing! It was such a fun week! They had fun performing for friends and family!

Kierra and Thomas

Well, I wasn't going to do it....I was going to give each kid their own post, but these two are just gonna have to share one. :) People always ask if I'm going to do mom and tot gymnastics with Kierra and I always so no way! Why would I pay for something like that when she has 3 older sisters that throw her around every day! She loves the computer and has figured out how to print the games she is doing. Ughhh...just what we need...more paper clutter. Thomas, who got his first hair cut last week, is also so good to just tag along where ever we go! He has taken 2, maybe 3 steps a few times now. I can't wait to get him outside more in the stroller, or behind the bike. Hopefully it will warm up soon!








So there you have it 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1! Ta Da!! Now on to summer!!

Emily

I know Emily must've thought I was so crazy, but on the older girls' last full day of school I was holding Emily and just started tearing up realizing that next year she will be one of the "older girls". Emily is actually one of the older girls which is why this year has been so boring for her I'm sure! At the beginning of this school year I was so sad that Taylor was gonna be gone all day, because those two do everything together. I was determined to not neglect Emily and to have so much fun with her while the older 2 were gone. Well, with a new baby in the house I'm sure she was neglected more than not, but we did play a lot of Guess Who and Disney Memory and hopefully she will miss me a little when she starts kindergarten in the fall! Look at how incredibly beautiful this shy little thing is! She also has had so much fun in gymnastics! It will be fun to see how she does this summer in a new class! I know she is so excited to have her sisters home! We will all have such a fun summer together!