Jake and London

 While we were in Southern Utah for my Dads wedding we got to meet my niece Brandis baby London for the first time.  When we first stopped by Brandis house I made the kids stay outside until I knew Brandi would be ok that they come in and meet the baby.  Brandi was ok with the kids coming in, and I quickly told them they needed to wash hands before holding her.  Well on the following Sunday we were at my sister Jackies house when we found out that Brandi was in the hospital with gal bladder problems and Jackie would be keeping London for the day.  My sister Stephanie and I were in changing Londons diaper when I heard Jake say he was washing his hands.  A few minutes later I heard water on in the tub and then all was quiet again.  Soon Jake appeared with a wash cloth drying off his face, hands arms, legs, and feet.  He wanted to see/hold the baby and made sure he was clean from head to toe.  How could a mom say no to his good efforts so I let him climb upon the bed and I propped this cute little baby in front of him for a visit.  He was so excited to get to love on the baby, and she didn't seem to mind it much either.

 He was able to get some cute little smiles out of London, and she was alert and interested in what he had to say.  It definitely melted this mommas heart.

 This sweet little baby girl melts my heart every time I see pictures of her on facebook or Instagram.  And I love her momma for being so willing to let me snuggle her.  Almost makes me wish I had a baby at my house, almost.  :) 

Dads Wedding

Jake is so excited to have a grandpa again to love him and fuss over him.  He has a soft spot in his heart for anyone who loves him and treats him good.  I am glad that my dad has found someone who loves my kids and treats them good.  Anna May will be a good addition to our family.

 Anna Mays bishop performed the ceremony

 The first dance.  

 Jake and MaKenna had to sneak a picture of the newly weds.

 Cutting of the cake.  

 They sure are silly and happy in love, and I love how happy my dad is.  Makes me happy.

Easter 2014

 This year for Easter I decided rather than give the kids a ton of candy I would get them non candy items.  In our house lately we have tried to stay clear of sugar.  It makes it really hard to not fall prey to the sugar when every store you go to has isles and isles of sugar staring at you as you walk in the door.  This year I held my ground and decided to give a few pieces of candy in the Easter baskets and then I did eggs with little games in them.  Both kids got fun fans, coloring books, shoes, shirt, crayons, uno cards, stickers, playdough and a few other fun things.  The kids didn't seem to mind the missing candy and enjoyed all the fun things they got in their baskets.

Easter Saturday Fun

We colored eggs on Saturday.  The kids both decided they were too old to go to the cities Easter Egg Hunt, and since we weren't around family for Easter we decided we would decorate eggs,  and watch Hop the movie.

 I love how Jake took his time trying his best to make his eggs the coolest eggs ever colored.

 I am kind of sad that Ellie is getting old enough that she is starting to just humor me I think in the crafts and fun I plan for them.  She wasn't really thrilled at first to color eggs, but quickly enjoyed what she was doing and made some cute eggs.

 Ellie and her tongue.  She sure thinks it has to be sticking out in every single picture.  I feel bad with how often I have to get upset with her because I will take pictures then look back at them and see her tongue is out and so I have to redo the pictures again. 

  The finished eggs

  You can't tell from the pictures but the eggs have faces on one side, and the kids art work on the other side of the egg.  It might take some time to convince Jake that we need to eat them.

4th Grade Utah Pioneer Program

Today was Jake's 4th Grade Utah Pioneer Program at school.  I love how excited he was to be able to sing with the 4th grade students, and show all the parents just how much they had learned about Utah.  He was so excited to have me take pictures of him and his friend Carson before the program started.  He said he didn't want to ever forget just how cool they looked in Mrs. Stewarts cowboy hats.  

 This is Jake and his friend Dillon after the program.  Jake was so sweaty from wearing the cowboy hat for so long that he decided it would be ok to get pictures without the hat.  He felt bad that his other friends had already left with their parents and he wasn't able to get pictures with them.

He sure was excited to see that his sissy was able to get out of school early and make it to his program.  He made sure he sang extra loud so that Ellie could be sure and hear him.  I love just that these two are such good friends.  I hope that they always stay friends.  I makes my heart happy!

He had to make sure none of his friends were around when Ellie was kissing him on the cheek.  I mean how embarrassing would it have been if someone would have seen her kissing her brother.  :)

Spring Break and Lazy Days

Spring Break is upon us, and we have decided that we would like to spend our days making fun treats and being lazy.  Any day that my kids can take where mom does not hound them about getting dressed and doing their hair is a great day for these two.  

 Day  one of Spring break we made and decorated Giant sugar and chocolate chip cookies.  The kids loved being creative with these cookies, but the part they loved most is that mom let them eat them.

Ellie worked so hard on her swirls with a big pink flower on top.  She later admitted that maybe she had added a little too much sugar to the top of her cookie. 

 Jake sure was proud of all the designs he made on his cookie.  He would have like to add more icing to his cookie, but mom felt it would be best to just call this cookie the best finished cookie we had seen.

 Proud kids with their beautiful master pieces.  They sure were proud of their work!

  On day 3 of our Spring Break we decided that we would take peeps and dip them in white chocolate, then add lots of fun sugery sprinkles to our peeps.

 Jake absolutely loved adding hats and clothes to his peeps.  

  Ellie took a little more time on each of her peeps.  She wanted each one to be perfect.

 Both kids are feeling very accomplished.

 The best part of working so hard to make fancy little peeps is being able to eat them in the end.  At least that is the opinion of these to cute kiddos of mine.

 Between the sugar filled crafts we wrote missionaries, watched lots of movies, colored in new coloring books, jumped on the trampoline, and stayed in jammies as long as possible.  

Grandpa and Grandma

 My dad was recently engaged, and he brought up his fiance for us to get to know better, and for me to do engagement pictures for them.  I love how happy my dad seems, and am glad he has finally found someone who seems to make him very happy.  I don't know that I have seen my dad as happy as he is with Anna May in a long time.  She loves him, and loves to baby him and take care of him.  My dad needs this.  He has always been the one to show all the love in his relationships both with my mom and with his ex.  It made my heart happy to see that Anna May doted on my dad as much as he doted on her, and I hope that they have an enjoyable life together.

 Ellie was quite the helper with taking pictures.  She did everything she could to make sure that we got some good pictures, from holding up grandpas jacket to block the sun, to blocking the wind when it picked up.  She is such a good girl, and I am lucky to be her mom.

 Two very happy kiddos to have grandparents here to love them and spoil them with hugs and kisses.

I just love how happy these to make each other.  They are so affectionate towards each other, and I had to remind them about the no PDA rule.  HA!

The Big 10! Happy Birthday Jake

                   The TEN things I love most about Jake

1-  He never goes a day without dishing out compliments, be it to me, his dad, teachers at school, strangers.  

2-  Jake is a friend to all.  Even if someone is mean to him, he finds ways to be nice to them.

3-  He has freckles, so many freckles that we try to name the new ones every day.  LOVE THIS!

4-  Jake loves writing letters to me and his dad thanking us for all we do for him.  

5-  He loves helping out around the house.  He does not go to bed at night unless his room is clean.

6-  Jake has a great singing voice, and I love listening to him sing at the top of his lungs.

7-  Jake takes pride in how he looks-  his hair, and clothes always have to be picture ready.  :)

8-  Jake is a pleaser.  He does his best to please those around him.

9-  He is such a smart kid, and works hard in school

10-  He is my son, and I am thankful to my Father in Heaven for allowing me to be this boys mom.

Phat Cats in Ogden has a movie ride where you lay in the seat and watch a roller coaster ride on screen and the chair moves up and down and shakes,rattles and rolls.

Ray and I let Jake decide between a birthday party and Phat Cats.  He chose to spend the day with his family at Phat Cats, then we went shopping and let him choose his gifts and then we did dinner and picked up a birthday cake.  He said it was one of his best birthdays. 

 Can't believe my baby is 10.  There is a big part of me that is so sad to not have little ones in my house, to not have a kid who relies completely on me all the time.  But there is also a big part of me that is glad to be out of that stage of life.  I love that my kids are getting big, that they can do for themselves a bit more, and that they can carry on conversations with me.  I loved having them small, but I am loving the stage of life both my kids are in.