Life is Good Today....

All day I have been thinking of the song by Zac Brown Band, Toes. The chorus repeats, Life is good today, life is good today. I can't help but feel that way the last couple of days. Good things have been happening around our household.

I am so extremely grateful for the sunshine. It has totally lifted my spirits and made me so happy. I have kind of been in a dark place all winter long. I am happy to say, I have come off the medication my doctor put me on to help with the "winter blues." I can physically feel the sunshine and fresh air healing my soul. Church today was so inspiring and made me want to be better, try harder, and reach out more. I feel motivated to make a difference in myself and others.

Big changes are going to be happening around our household in the next couple weeks. Mike has been offered a job with a new company, so he will no longer be working for VZW. We fill this is an amazing opportunity and feel very blessed for this new experience. I have always had a hard time with change (especially when you're moving away from something that is good) but both Mike and I feel very good about this new adventure. My emotions have all been on the verge of bubbling over. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for this new opportunity. I am nervous about the unknown adventure ahead. Change is always hard, even if you know it's the right thing. I am grateful for the amazing opportunities we have had while Mike has worked for Verizon. I am proud of Mike and the things he has been able to accomplish. And I am excited for this next step in our lives.

Although, many things are happening. Changes are being made. Life still continues. The simple day to day things continue to make me smile. Here are some of the things I wish I could capture in a little jar.

Kaylee has been in performance mode. A couple days ago her school announced they were going to be having a talent show. She tried getting a group together to sing, but they told her she could only be the back up singer. She wasn't gonna have any of that. She came home determined to try out and actually win the talent show (the winner get's $100.) The poor girl does not sing...AT ALL! She is very passionate about it so I guess I need to support her. She has decided she wants to sing Part of your World from Little Mermaid. Stay tuned for auditions results.

Kade had a soccer game on Saturday and scored SEVEN goals!!! He was on fire. It has become so fun to watch him play. He is so speedy, his little legs get going so fast he's able to outrun most players. He thought it was so funny to kick the ball into the goal and then slide. After each goal he would tally on his finger's how many he had scored. He was so excited.

Brayden's team has started their outdoor games. They have been training with a trainer from Holland, he works incredibly well with the kids. The kids are amazingly good for their age. It is so enjoyable to watch them, and their progression. Brayden had his first "header" goal this last game.

Yes, Life is Good Today.

Happy Birthday to You...

Happy Birthday to my little man!

I sat and reminisced last night about the many fun/funny times we have had with Kade. I am so happy that he is a part of our family. I will be one sad momma, the day he starts kindergarten. He is the best little buddy to run around and do errands with. He is so fun to talk to. He is always making me giggle. I am constantly just squeezing him and giving him kisses! Today was no exception.

1 week old

3 months old

1 1/2 years

2 years

3 years

and today he is 4 years old!!!!

He woke up so excited for today. As he sat down for breakfast he said very sadly, "nobody has even spanked me yet." We quickly gave him birthday spankings and he hasn't stopped smiling since. He has been flexing his muscles all day. He thinks that now he is 4, his muscles are huge. We started the day with free breakfast from Chick-fil-a (gotta love that!) Dad got off work early so we went and picked up Grandma Sonia and we all went to lunch. We enjoyed a little Wingers and some asphalt pie.

After lunch we were off to the mall. The kids got Build a bear gift certificates for Easter so we went to redeem them. They had a blast creating their own little pets. Next we took him to Toys R Us to pick out a bike. He decided on the green one so he could be just like his buddy Evan. They rode and rode and rode together all afternoon. He has been talking for weeks about going bowling on his birthday. So this evening his Mormor and Papa Kenny took him out bowling. He had such a fantastic day. I just loved watching his little smile ALL DAY LONG!

Happy Birthday Buddy!

I wish you were still little:(

Boucnin' off the Walls

Kade has been so excited for his birthday party! I decided on a hassle free, stress free birthday party this year. We booked a party room at Bouncin' off the Walls.  Everyday he would tell me, "Mom, I just want to bounce off the walls." So the first thing he did when he got there was bounce off the walls. He had so much fun with all his little friends.

The hit of the night was the giant slide. The kids were going down on their tummies, upside down, rolling down it, making trains, a couple were even trying to run all the way down. It was fun watching them. I even went down a few times myself....upside down. I was quite proud of myself.

JT, Bella, Bailey, Ryan, and Evan

Above: Bailey, Ella, Elijah, Kade, Hallee, Kaylee

There was always a long line for the slide. They were all pretty good about waiting. Brayden was so excited to be with his best friend Zach. We are so happy they are here in Utah now!

Kaylee and Hallee. Ryan and GQ Kade. Kade and his girlfriend Bella. He seriously can't keep his hands off of her. He is always hugging her or has his arm around her. Even during their soccer games. And Mason

This was seriously the best party I have done. The kids were able to bounce for 1 1/2 hours. When they were done, we walked into the next room. They had set out the cake and ice cream, all the presents, and the party favors. I loved not having to do anything but play with the kids. They had this cute little party chair for Kade to sit on while he opened up gifts.

Kade seriously has some awesome friends. He was totally spoiled. Kade somehow knew he would be too. Earlier in the day I told him I didn't know what to get him for his birthday. He said, "Don't worry about it mom, my friends will just take care of it." I seriously considered taking him up on that option but decided I had to get my little guy something.

Here are all the party guests. This included Kade's friends, and also some friends for Kaylee and Brayden to hang out with.

Back: Brock, Brooks, Brayden, Zach, and Gabe

Middle: Ella, Kaylee, Breckon, Bennett, Bailey, Elijah, Evan, Kade, Ryan, Mason, Brody (off to the side not pictured is JT)

Front: Halle, Lauren, Addi, and Bella

It was an awesome night! Thanks everybody.

And yes, Kade wore the same shirt two days in a row. And he will probably wear it tomorrow. He got it for his birthday from Grandpa Warner and Grandma Laura. He loves it!

Character Dress Up Day...

The kids have been having a read a thon fundraiser for school. If they participated during Spring Break they earned a free character dress up day. They could pick any character out of a book they had read. Kaylee chose to dress up as Fancy Nancy.

Brayden was really into dressing up as a character, but he also didn't want to have to wear his uniform. He decided to be Jack from The Magic Treehouse. Isn't it a clever costume? He thought carrying around his backpack and "Teddy" was good enough.

They have had fun and have been reading, reading, reading.

Easter 2010

I loved that Easter fell on General Conference weekend. I had an excuse not to buy easter clothes. We weren't all rushed to get to church, yet we still were uplifted. We were able to see a lot of family. I vote for that every year.

I was a little sad because questions kept flying about the Easter bunny. "Mom, are you the Easter Bunny?" "Mom, why do you have to go easter shopping if the bunny brings everything?" "Mom, why is Grandma filling the Easter eggs when it's the bunny's job?" The bunny almost got caught delivering presents. Luckily, I was able to detour the conversation each time. But this may be the last year I will be able to do that.

Once morning came all 3 kids were excited. They had totally forgot about their bunny issues. It took them quite some time to find their Easter baskets. Kade didn't care that he got a build a bear gift certificate he just wanted candy. Brayden and Kaylee however were very excited.

After the kids found their baskets, mom and dad had one more surprise they had to find. It took them FOREVER, even with clues. I worry for them, they aren't very bright sometimes. After they did find it they were very ecstatic. I found a killer deal on Cowabunga Bay season passes and decided to get that for them for Easter (For some reason I felt like i needed a reason to buy them?) I can't wait for some fun times this summer at the water park.

I think we were able to see all of our family on Easter (except my Dad and Laura- they were on a trip.) Mike's brother came up for the weekend so we had all the cousins at Grandma's Sonia's .Unfortunately my camera died and I didn't get many pictures. The kids all had a fun Easter egg hunt...indoors. It was once again snowing. Kaylee found the coveted "golden egg" which holds $5. Kasen kept following Kaylee around pointing to the gold egg saying, "help me find one of those." It was cute. He was happy when he found out one of his eggs had a quarter. And Brayden found the "silver egg" which had $1. We had a yummy lunch and then enjoyed the second session of conference for the day.

We were able to go to my Mom's house in the evening. All my brother's were there. This guarantees an eventful evening when that happens. Good or bad. The kids loved searching the house for jelly beans and chocolate eggs. I'm sure my mom will be finding hidden jelly beans clear into July. It ended up being a nice evening and a great way to spend the end of our spring break.

Bringing Spring Indoors....

We had big plans for our garden during spring break. Too bad it was snowing. We unanimously decided it was a little tough to plant a garden in a snowstorm. So, we decided to bring spring indoors. I have never, ever planted something, watched it grow and then ate it. I decided this was our year, even though I have no clue what I'm doing. Well, actually last year was supposed to be the year. We made our planter boxes, but never filled them. This is our year!

I took the kids to IFA a couple weeks ago, and we bought the seeds we wanted to plant. We have no idea if the seeds we bought grow well in our climate. Like I said, I know NOTHING about planing. This is going to be a trial and error sort of thing.

Brayden chose some sort of flower to grow. Kaylee chose African Daisies. Kade chose sunflowers.

I gave each of the kids a section with 10 different spots. Brayden and Kaylee both decided they wanted to grow one of everything. Kade on the other hand, didn't want to be bothered by that. He dumped them all in, then he figured he was good. I did assist him at this point, so we wouldn't have 50 sunflower plants.

We placed our plants in a sunny area in my bedroom. The kids check on it hourly. Now keep in mind we planted these on Thursday (today is Wednesday.) So not even a week. Look how talented I am. They grew!!

Aren't they the cutest little plants you've ever seen? Now, please don't comment and tell me this is normal. I truly believe I just might be gifted in the gardening department. So please don't squash that. I just need to figure out what to do now. Yes, you may comment about that.

Discovery Gateway

We were lucky enough to have our cousins come in from Montana during our spring break. This made the week soooo enjoyable for the kids. They seriously wanted to be with each other every spare second we had. We took the kids downtown to Discovery Gateway, and they had a blast. I know I have been there a million times, and taken a billion pictures there, I just can't help myself. I just want to capture every moment of them laughing and having a good time. So here I go, I'm going to post all my million pictures in hope we can capture the moment's and remember them forever.

Kaylee was terrified of the rock wall. After about 10 min or so, she decided to conquer her fear and made it almost to the top. The kids loved the water. They sat and played in it forever. I kept thinking to myself, "how can water be so interesting?" I would love to recreate so many of the things there. They always love pretending to be on the news. Too bad it wasn't really working this time.

One of my favorite parts of the day, was watching them act out different plays. I love to see how their imagination's work. I was seriously laughing so many different times. One of which is when Brayden tried to fit into the little cheetah costume. I was a little grossed out thinking about how many different children have put those costumes on. But that all passed as soon as I realized they were having such a good time.

We have to hit the helicopter everytime we go to the museum. They love it! Brayden of course was a jokster the whole time. He loved pretending he was the injured one, and pretending he was hanging on for dear life...on the outside of the helicopter.

Thanks cousins for a good time.

I can't wait....

I'm not sure why, but it seemed like it was senior citizen day today at Costco. They were everywhere. There were old people in wheel chairs, old people with canes, old people being escorted by their children, and old people out by themselves. There was this one couple in particular that stood out to me. Every aisle I turned down, there they were. They had matching blue crocheted sweaters on. They were seriously so cute and so sweet with each other. I couldn't help but watch this couple, and the other old people around. I just thought to myself,

"I can't wait til Mike and I can wear matching crocheted sweaters together at Costco."

This is a horrible picture but I couldn't get too close, without looking creepy.