Monday, March 25, 2013

Day Out with Friends...

Our friends (Dev & Tiff) invited us out on Saturday afternoon and I can't say enough how fun it was after a long Winter indoors to get out.  The kids had so much fun.  Olivia was especially stoked to be out hiking which she claims is her most favorite thing in the world to do.

 The hike was a little bit steep but right when you start to get nervous it all ends out OK.  Dev made YUMMY dutch oven potatoes and we roasted hotdogs for lunch.  The weather was amazingly perfect.


 We hiked to these Indian petroglyphs.  I can't remember the name of them so when Jeremy proof reads my post, he will put what they are called (done).  :)  It was amazing to see how high they climbed to engrave them.



 Dev, Cash, Olivia and Gaige all hiked to a some Anasazi ruins.  It was too hard for the rest of the little people.  You can see them climbing up the ledge in this picture.  Livvy LOVED it.  I could hear her through the echo of the canyon talking how "Someone normally her age, wouldn't be able to do something like this."  She cracks me up.
 Mason was great.  He just was content sitting and eating dirt.
Fun day with good friends.  More please!!!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Baptism Day

So many things ran through my mind on Olivia's Baptism day. The one thing I felt the most was gratitude.  Gratitude for my life, my family, and Olivia.  She has the most tender heart you could ever find.  My friends came down for the baptism and it was a huge blessing to me.  Almost immediately upon being here they had solved many of my stresses.  We had such a fun crazy day and it will always be a good memory to me.  Noelle came down early to help me take Olivia's pictures.  She is so amazing.  She is ALWAYS willing to come rescue me at any craft idea I want to pursue.    She did an amazing job capturing Olivia that morning of her baptism day.






After the photo shoot we headed back to help Jeremy prepare for dinner and to be honest just hang out and have fun!  This is the cake that I was making for Olivia's dessert.  But I didn't make it!  Brandalyn stepped in and made it perfect!  Such a cute idea thanks to Pintrest!

It was nothing short of an amazing day.  Olivia was totally ready to be baptized.  When I was able to find a quiet moment we had a great conversation about what it meant to her.  I was really impressed with the things she was thinking about.  She told me if she wasn't ready to be baptized she would just wait till she knew what she wanted.  But she also told me that even though she knew she could wait, she didn't want to and she felt ready.  I don't think my testimony was as strong as hers at that age!  The spirit was strong and I knew she knew she was ready.
She was super nervous but couldn't stop smiling.  Although, she didn't like the jumpsuit.  She didn't think it was very cute and she thought the pants were too short!  HA!  (there is some of her mom in there!!)




Olivia was brave!  She got up and sang the Jenny Phillips song, "Where You Stand."  Brandalyn played for her.  She did an amazing job!

After, Noelle grabbed a few pictures of her friends and cousin who came.  Love these little girls!


Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Livvy is 8!



 I am not sure how it came to be that Olivia is now 8 but she sure is one amazing little girl!  She had a fun & relaxing birthday.  She slept in late and Cohen could barely contain his excitement for Olivia to open her gifts.  I actually think he was more excited than her!   Olivia made sure her hermet crab Aztec was there to watch her open gifts. 





 She loved the spurs that her dad picked out for her.  She can not wait for summer so she can start riding horses again.







Dear Livvy,

I was so excited for you to turn 8.  For a few reasons actually... One reason is because you are so ready.  They say that by the time a child turns 8 they will fundamentally know everything there is to know.  I guess that should scare me, but not with you Olivia!  Heavenly Father has blessed you with a kind heart.  Even last night I heard you sneaking around to tidy up the kitchen and living room so I could be surprised in the morning.  I LOVED that!  You have a love for God's creations.  A few weeks ago, you and I got to have an amazing talk.  You have grasped Heavenly Father's plan for you.  You understand about trials and you taught me something.  You recognized your brother's trials and you asked what your trials were.  I believe that you think about others so much that you forget what your own struggles are.  If you hold on to anything I hope you hold on to the service and love you give others.  Not many girls walk into a room and announce you have open arms ready to take a baby!  What a good mama you will be!  You are not a little girl anymore and you take on a lot of responsibility.  It makes me laugh that you HATE school so much because you are so ready and eager to learn!  Life can't be all spent in the field!  I love you, Miss Livvy!!!

Love,
Mom

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Late Over Party

 Olivia turned 8!!  She wanted a birthday party so bad this year!  So we decided to have a late over with a few of Olivia's friends.  We sent the boys away so there would be no boy interruptions!  The girls did Shrinky Dinks as crafts, ate a ton of food and had a ton of fun! 

 For dinner Livvy wanted Pizza Rolls and Doritos.  Seemed easy enough, so I added cupcakes that the girls could decorate themselves too for dessert!  And don't forget a LOT of popcorn to go with the movie!

 Jersi, Nauoli, Averie, Kendall, Livvy, KaeLea and Hailie
You might think that girls are easy and they are, but at one point or another every single girl had cried during this party!  The funny thing is I was with them the whole time and I was oblivious to why they were crying! At least none of them went home crying. (I hope!) 


 They had a pillow fight and a dress up session.  Mason was the prince.  He seemed happy enough about it. Two girls smashed into each other and one had a bloody nose and the other thought her nose broke!  That was pretty sad! 
 I suggested we do presents and that made everyone happy.  They know Livvy pretty well because she got a lot of Bunny things as gifts! 
 Movie Time!!  "Cowgirls and Angels"  It was a cute movie.  Livvy loved it and it was a fitting movie for her.  A few of the girls thought it was a sad movie.  I watched it with them and didn't think it was sad!  Tender hearts! haha
 Livvy had a great time, but I think we might just go for milkshakes next year.  I am glad Olivia has such a great group of girl friends! :)

I L-O-V-E Y-O-U!

Can I just say we had such a fun Valentine's Day?? From morning till night we celebrated!  Every meal was made into hearts!  The kids loved it.  Jeremy cooked for the Valentines dinner that night at the hospital.  I debated going but Jeremy's sisters were fun to go with so I went.
It was a super busy day for me which I love.  I helped out in Olivia's classroom and we did Pictionary using Valentines phrases.  Then after school I prepared my kids for a scavenger hunt with clues leading to Grandma's house so she could watch the kids while I went to dinner.  I had their meal prepared at Grandma's and I also hid a few gifts for them. 

Livvy and Cohen took turns reading the clues.  Some they had a hard time finding and some not so much.  They barely noticed when I slipped out for dinner. 
Livvy looked super cute in the skirt I made for her.  I used a T-Shirt and felt material to have it spell LOVE across the front.  I was happy how it turned out.  (Thanks Bran for the idea!!)


I am completely convinced that it is impossible to have all kids smiling the way you want with the pose you want at the time you want it!  But I love how this picture turned out.  I gave it to J framed to put in his office. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!