Fun babysitting Xander

Craig and Rachael came down from Kimberly Idaho for Craig's football game in Logan, and the kids and I volunteered to watch Xander at our house while they were gone. Ellie and Jake were so excited to have a baby at our house, and although Xander isn't much of a baby he is the closest we have had at our house in a long time. Jake quickly pulled out some of his (baby) toys, and was excited to let Xander play with them.

Xander kept acting so concerned over little bugs on the sidewalk after it sprinkled, so Ellie and Jake helped him step on them. After a little while I went over to see what this terrible bug was that he was stressing over, and found that they were potato bugs. I got quite a kick out of it.

We pulled out Jake's old (baby) three wheel spider man scooter for Xander to play with. He quickly picked up on how to ride it, and spent a good hour outside with Ellie and Jake riding scooters up and down the sidewalk. Of course he was more than happy to have Ellie push him around, and she was more than thrilled to do it.When Xander went home Sunday morning we sent the scooter home with Xander. We decided we would rather give it to him, than to the little neighbor boy. Ellie gave hers to one of our little neighbor girls a few years ago, so Jake wanted to give his to someone as well.

While Craig and Rachael were loading their car to head home Craig put his helmet on Jake. Jake thought he was pretty darn cool, and of course had to have me snap some shots of him posing with his big huge mussels. Now Jake is insisting when he grows up he is going to play football just like Xander's dad and he will be strong, tough, and cool. I love boys and their imaginations.Thanks Craig and Rachael for leaving Xander with us for some fun. And thanks for spending some good visiting time with us. We love you, and hope you will come back soon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLIE

Ellie is 8 years old. I'm having a hard time thinking of her as a big girl. She is becoming quite the young lady, and is always looking for ways to help out around the house. Every time I look at her I am blown away with how beautiful she is becoming. I guess sharing a birthday with Ellie will always keep me young. She has spent the last two weeks counting down to our birthday, and has been very excited to tell everyone how old WE are going to be. I have had to remind her several times that when you get old you don't want to be reminded of how old you are getting, but she is quick to tell me that you don't get old until your kids are your age. So, I guess I will be young forever. Here are eight reasons why I love Ellie so much, and am grateful she is my little Ella Bell.

1* She is always happy, she loves to sing, dance, and make up silly songs just like her dad.

2* She is and incredible big sister to Jake, he idolizes her, and I love that she always chooses the right so that he is also able to choose the right.

3* She has the most beautiful big brown eyes and I love that she lets me look at them anytime I want and usually for as long as I want.

4* She lets me take oodles and oodles of pictures of her even though I am sure it gets annoying to her at times, she just keeps on smiling for the camera.

5* I love that she loves to read. She will sit down to a book and read the whole thing through and then quickly tell me how good the book was.

6* She tries hard to be a friend to all she meets, even when it may be hard at times.

7* She loves to learn about the Gospel, and already is starting to discover her own Testimony.

8* She is my daughter, and I love her so very much. I am honored to share a birthday with her, and am thankful to my Father in Heaven for allowing me to raise such a beautiful girl.

Happy Birthday Ellie, Daddy and I love you so much!

Family Home Evening / Birthday Fun

We made a fun day out of the day by celebrating our birthdays a day early, and having a fun Family Home Evening. We headed to Ogden early in the day, and went to the college to feed the birds. I love this time of year when the pond at the school is full of ducks, and many of them are babies. The kids and I always have lots of fun feeding the ducks. Ray on the other hand would rather just sit by and watch us have fun. The ducks were really brave, and came right up to us to be fed which is always lots of fun. I think we enjoyed feeding the baby ones more than the adult ones this time. They were just learning how to fight for the bread and I loved watching them win.Jake found that it was much easier just breaking his bread into lots of little pieces and then throwing it all at once into the water. I think he figured it would keep the ducks from coming to close to him. He did not find their bravery as cool as his mom did. :)Here is a cute little bird who I thought was so brave. The first time I threw him a piece of bread he waited until I walked away before he would grab the bread. Then I would throw a piece closer to me and look away and he would grab it and hop away to eat it. By the time I was done I was able to put the food down by my foot and he would hop over and eat it without hopping away.I love this picture of Jake. He was so fascinated by the sprayer in the pond. I think if we would have let him he could have stayed there for hours. Below are two pictures of Ellie and Jake posing for pictures at there college. Every time we go to the school we talk to them about the school and all of the things they could become. I think they just assume that it is their school by now. Ellie and I decided that for our birthday we wanted to go bowling and then out to dinner. We were able to do this at the college also. They have a summer deal that if you bowl between the hours of 2 and 6 pm the shoes are free. We each bowled a game and then headed off to dinner. The kids both did pretty good for it being Jake's first time, and Ellie's second. Jake scored a 64, Ellie bowled a 65, and I bowled a 96. Ray was happy to just sit back and watch us. He wasn't up for bowling so we had fun without him. (lol) After bowling we headed to Layton to a nice Chinese Restaurant for dinner. It was a lot of fun, and Ellie and I enjoyed the time out with Ray and Jake.

I sure do LOVE this kid!

I just want to say today how much I love this kid. I am so proud of him, and the progress he has made in his 5 years of life. He has been going to school since he was about two and a half, both with someone coming into our home and doing school outside of our home. He currently is doing a summer school program, and is doing amazing. For those of you who know Jake, know just how far he has come and what a hard worker he is. Today as I listen to him talk about what he did at school, and I listen to him tell Ellie a story that he has just made up (obviously about himself and being such an awesome Super Hero), I think to myself, I sure do love this kid, I sure am proud of him and his accomplishments. Here are 5 random reasons I love Jake.

1- He is such a love bug. He loves to give lots of hugs and kisses, and I secretly hope he never outgrows this.

2- He has the best imagination a little boy could have, and can quickly become whomever he is pretending to be.

3- He is always ready to learn something new, and seldom complains even when I know deep down inside he probably would like to.

4- He loves following his dad around, and wants to be just like his dad when he grows up.

5- He is very polite, and always makes sure he says please, thank-you, and excuse me if the need arises.

Thanks Jake for being such a great son, I don't think I could ask for a better kid.

I LOVE YOU!!! Love Mom

**********10 Years**********

Ray and I are celebrating our 10 year Anniversary today, and here are the beautiful pink roses he brought me this morning. As I think back over the years, I have a hard time believing that it has been 10 yeas since we were kneeling across from one another at the alter in the Temple with all of our loved ones as they witnessed us be Sealed for Time and all Eternity. I have heard many times people say they are lucky to have found the love of their life, their soul mate, I am one of these lucky ones. I am so lucky to have Ray in my life. I could go on and on about Ray, but instead, I am going to give 10 reasons why I love this man so much, and am happy to celebrate 10 wonderful years with him.

1- He is such a good guy, such a hard working man, and when life wasn't going as we thought it needed to be going, or wanted it to be, he went back to school to better our lives.

2- He loves me unconditionaly.

3- He is an incredible dad, he wants what is best for our kids, and I love to watch and listen to him teach them lessons they need to learn.

4- He is so smart about so many things, and I find myself going to him for answers about so many different things, and if he doesn't know the answer he finds one for me.

5- He spoils me, (what girl doesn't love this)?

6- He likes my cooking, even when their is nothing to like about it. (seldom does he complain about a bad meal).

7- He has a laugh that makes me smile. (If you have ever heard him laugh you know what I am talking about)

8- He lets me put my ice cold feet on his legs at night to warm them up (even when he doesn't want me to)

9- He bought us a car that he didn't necessarily like the looks of because I loved it.

10- He chose me to be his Eternal Companion.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY (Ray Baby), I LOVE YOU!!!!

Flowers in Bloom / Happy Kids in the Neighborhood

My roses are starting to bloom, and I am so excited. They are looking so dang pretty. I was concerned at the end of the year last year that they may not survive the winter, but they survived and are back to bloom away. It makes me so happy to look at them, and I can't wait for all of the bushes to bloom. This summer I am hoping that the neighborhood kids get along as well as they did today. I am going to try to be a better mom by letting my kids out on their own more, but in order to do this the neighborhood kids need to be nicer than they were last year. Here are some random shots of some of the kids my kids like to play with. A mom can hope for kindness in the neighborhood can't she?Chase asked me to take a picture of him in his baseball uniform and hat. (cute kid)The kids sure have been interested in the holes Ray has dug for our sprinklers. It will be nice to have him finish this project so that they can play in the sprinklers.Victor, he is just going into first grade. I think he has a tiny crush on my Elle Bell.Austin, is such a cute kid, he comes over every morning to see if Jake can play. I have to keep the doors locked or he will just walk in and start watching TV even if the kids are still sleeping.

Jake sure is a happy boy when he can be playing outside with the neighbor kids.

SCHOOL'S OUT for the SUMMER

I think the pictures say it all, she sure is excited to be out for the summer, and has lots of plans of the things she would like to do, and the places she would like to go and stay without her dad, Jake or I. She found out today who her teacher will be next year. Mr. Richards is a brand new teacher who just barely finished up his student teaching here at our school. I snuck down to the school to listen to him introduce himself to his new class, and he seems like he is going to be an awesome teacher for Ellie.

Fun Sunday Drive

We took a Sunday drive up to Idaho to visit family, and make sure that my other Mother was OK after hearing from Lynne that she took a bit of a fall. While there we enjoyed a picnic at the falls, visiting with Craig, Rachel, and Xander, Grandma Westfall, Lynne and Kelly, and even a couple of Rays cousins. We also stopped by Grandpa Westfall's grave. Ellie sat next to his headstone for quite a while and as I started walking over to her I overheard her talking to Grandpa Westfall. She said- I sure miss you grandpa, and I am so sorry I never got to meet you, I hope that when I get to heaven I will be able to see you, and that you will like to give me a hug and a kiss, (almost broke my heart). Isn't this such a cute kid? He has the sweetest little face, I just want to be an old lady and pinch his little cheeks. ha haThis is Craig, Rachel and Xander. Don't they make such a cute family. I just love these three.

Jake and Ellie sure do love snuggling with their Grandma. In this picture she has a black eye. I sure will be happy when she decides to settle down, and live life the way an 80 year old Grandma is supposed to. We are looking forward to making many more trips to Idaho this summer to visit all of our family up there.