My Mom Rocks!

I have (literally) the best mom in the whole world.  

I have missed her SO much over the last 3 years while she's been in Africa, 

but she will soon be home to be my mommy!

Here are some wonderful things she taught me growing up....

Home Birth is the best!  (she pretty much delivered me herself)

Have all your kids while you are young and cute!  (I didn't follow that one too well....and she still had Annie after this!)

She taught me how to ride a bike without training wheels (i usually leave that to Brent!)

She taught me about the church (our trip back east to church history sights)

.... some people, namely Ali, looked absolutely thrilled!

She taught me the joy of Rocky Point Mexico!

She was supportive in every thing I did (academic night).

She taught me to cook (although I still can't make pizza!)

She taught me to be frugal & cut my own kids hair.

(And how to never let my hair be again- hers & mine!)

She let me have adventures (to Europe after I graduated from high school with friends!)

And SO much more!

I LOVE YOU MOM!

Happy Mother's Day!

It's a MIRACLE.....I'm back!

Okay, I know it's been FOREVER since I've blogged last! 

I almost just gave it up completely, through a crazy move & a 1st trimester of being pregnant sick (yes- I'm prego in case you didn't notice my fat belly!)   But I've made it through and here I am!

So, we are just going to start at the most recent happenings & gradually I will work my way backwards!  :)

So.........here is EASTER Sunday!  I LOVE getting my kids matching clothes for Easter....so fun!

My handsome little 22 month old!  I can't believe he's almost 2!

We haven't quite perfected that "naturally" beautiful smile with Olivia!

Oakley always wears a white shirt & tie, so he was a little concerned 

this wasn't good enough for Sunday......he's such a good boy!)

(Jackson just loves messing up his hair!.....sure love that!)

Our Rainy Easter Egg Hunt!

Easter Saturday was a fabulous day in Arizona!  It started out by ruining our Easter egg hunt plans in the morning by pouring rain when we woke up.  (But we were okay with it because it was so beautiful....and we knew this was probably the last of the nice weather before the 100 degree weather hit...which is just did!)

So we postponed the party til late in the afternoon when the rain had stopped & it was just beautiful!  We had the Slade family over for the egg hunt & a nice little barbecue.  

It was so fun to have the Easter egg hunt in our new 3 1/2 acre yard.  There was plenty of room for all the grandkids to spread out & really "hunt" instead of just see them all instantly.  

We are sure loving our new house!  (Well....mostly the land!)  :)

Then we finished our Easter night off by sitting around our "fire pit" in the back corner of our yard because it was FREEZING!!!  But we had a nice discussion about resurrection followed by Newell's unforgettable dive/fall/roll.  Thank you Newell!

Jack didn't care about collecting the eggs....he just wanted to stop and open 1 and a time & then eat what was inside!

Ethan, Oakley, hmmmm...Austin & Hayden?, Cade....where was Wesley?

Livi, Hannah, Daisy, & Jennie holding Elli Belly!

SpRiNg at the new house

We move at the PERFECT time!  

It was the beginning of March & beautiful weather.

Our new house has 13 fruit trees in the front yard, that we are so excited for....apple, peach, pear, plum, & maybe cherry?  They are all little, but hopefully will give us a little in return for all the hours of irrigation Brent has worked on in the middle of the night.

We also got 10 new baby chicks in March, and of course...Jackson almost killed one, bringing it to the house by only it's neck.  It's a miracle it survived!

Here are some pictures around our beautiful yard

 of grass, small trees & our nasty "back porch" full of sand, weeds, sun, and...of course, no actually porch or concrete....just a good old carpet remnant!

Oakley = Sports ....okay, and Academics

Wow....Oakley is a freak about sports...hmmmm....I wonder where he got that!?

The other day (on his 1st day of soccer practice), I walked into his room to see this....


What's so hilarious is that Brent did the EXACT same thing when he was that old too. Except Debbie said he also layed out a piece of gum with his uniform! :)



And today he had his 1st game and they won 4-1.....he was so happy!!!


And then I was in Walmart the other day, just walking down an isle, when a man dressed in head to toe Pittsburg Steelers clothes walked by.

Then Oakley says, loud even for him to hear, "How could you be a Steelers fan!?" Oh man, the guy was laughing just as hard as I was! I don't know how he knew that!


I mean...come on! This kid wakes up every morning before all of us and turns on Brent's DVR football or basketball games from the night before, just to rewatch them and ask us, "Whose the bad team?" or "Who do you want to win?" then he'll cheer for the other team!

AND.....he is amazing at school!

I am so proud that I just have to boast a little.....Oakley got chosen for Student of Month for the 2nd time this year at Ben Franklin! The 1st month was for Music and then December was for his class with Miss Arnold. He makes me so dang proud!!!!

Come What May...and LOVE it!

When life hands you lemons.......Make LEMONADE!

Yes...I love my lemon tree!)
Jack just LOVED this.....he actually could do it all by himself!



When life hands you a bag of flour, dump it out, and make some yummy paste!


And then laugh while you're doing it!
When you find pretty shoes.....wear them (or you could apply this to...buy them!)
When Daddy has good shoes to fill.....fill them.

Wherever you can find water....drink it!

When you have orange trees.....WATER them....it actually worked this year...we had wonderful oranges!!!

When life gives you pics like these.....grab the camera!

Top 10 Random Pictures of November & December!

Just some highlights of my crazy life!...

#10... A wonderful and FREEZING Thanksgiving with Curtis & Aimee!

#9- A grand week with Grandpa Rob here! Jack just loved him! And the kids loved stealing his walker!#8 - Brent's SLADE Christmas Concert when Oakley loved the "snow" machine...or bubbles basically! (To see more pics from that visit the SLADE blog linked up top)

#7 - At the same Christmas Queen Creek event...Jack was a little leary of Santa! Why do we torture our small children like this!?

#6 - I sure LOVED when Jackson would untie or tear off every bow on the presents under the tree! That was definitely the best part of the month! :)

#5 - Jack at a petting zoo at Desert Mountain Park...it was the sweetest thing I've seen! A little pig comforting a rabbit who was scared and shaking! (And of course Jackson just scaring the poor rabbit even more!)

#4- Livi is a natural ham! At the ward talent show (after) when she was sad that she didn't get to perform...so I found her after she grabbed the mic and started singing!

#3- Again....my LOVELY daughter at the talent show....she would only make that face right when I would try to take a picture of her!

#2- The greatest act of all times....Mormon Synchronized Swimming....Brent was hilarious! (They dive on matresses on the stage!)

#1 - and my number 1 picture.....my random kids! And Livi actually put Jack there by herself and drove him around!