Rocky Mountain Shores

We decided to head to the zoo today to check out the new Rocky Mountain Shores Exhibit.  I do have to admit that even though Hogle Zoo has made some improvements to the zoo, I haven't really loved them.  Well, I should be more specific.  I don't like the new enclosures for the tigers, leopards etc.  I feel like you can never see them now because they are up so high.  Anyways, I was not overly hopeful that Rocky Mountain Shores was going to be anything special, but I was quite surprised.  I think it turned out great!  I love that they have the different levels that you can look at the animals under water, or from above.  All of the sea lions, and the polar bear were very active.  The girls loved it, and I am super excited to take them back!  I give it an "A" :)

Bear World 2012

This is the 2nd year that we have taken the girls up to Bear World, and it is quickly becoming a yearly tradition.  The girls love to see the bears right next to the car (despite the fact that I about have a heart attack every time), and of course the petting zoo and rides are an added bonus.  We spent part of the day at Bear World, and then we picked up Abby and headed to the movies.  We saw Madagascar 3, and the kids thought it was so funny. (Chad and I liked it too :) )  After the movie, we met the rest of Ryan and Corinne's family and went to dinner at the Pizza Pie Cafe.  Loved it!  I wish that we had one closer to us!  We had a great time chatting and just hanging out.  Until next year!

Memorial Day

I hope this doesn't sound creepy, but I love Memorial Day.  Let me tell you why.  Ever since I was a little girl, it has been a family tradition on my moms side to meet at my Grandma Kartchner's house the Sunday before Memorial Day, pick flowers from her beautiful gardens and make gorgeous arrangements, and then take them down to the Provo cemetery to put on the graves of our loved ones that have passed.  I know that a lot of people do this, but one thing that makes it extra special to me is that at every grave someone tells us a story about that person.  Usually it is my Grandma Kartchner.  This has been so neat for me while growing up, and still to this day, to feel like I know these people that I have never met, but that I am related to.  Such an amazing legacy that is being passed on.  This year was especially fun because my girls were enthralled with all of the stories.  I love that they are having the same experience that I did when I was young, and learning about their ancestors.  It was a beautiful day, and the cemetery was gorgeous.  Such a peaceful place!

On Memorial Day we went up to the cabin, had lunch, and spent the day playing in the cool air.  Pure bliss!

LOVE my Grandma Kartchner!!

Preschool Graduate!!

Brexlyn has finally graduated!!

She has been waiting a long time for this day.

Out of all of my girls, she is probably the most shy.  It was a struggle some days getting her to school because she would not want to go.  For awhile I didn't understand why she put up a fight almost every day, because she would come out after preschool was over and tell me how awesome it was.  

One day, when she was having an especially emotional day about going to school (throwing a tantrum), I sat her down and asked her why she didn't want to go.  She finally told me that it was because she didn't talk to anyone, and so she didn't feel like she had friends.  This absolutely broke my heart!  

She ended up going, and I asked the teachers to help her step out of her comfort zone and play with more of the kids.  They did amazing!  From that time, until now, she is much more social, and I really feel like they helped to prepare her, not only academically, but socially for Kindergarten.

We LOVE Miss Jacque's Preschool!!!

Here is my grown up little girl!

 She said she wanted to be a firefighter when she grows up :)

 All graduated!

 We were so lucky to have Grandparents come and watch!

Grandma and Grandpa Heal

 Grandpa and Nana Paige

Me and Brexlyn

Her AMAZING teachers:

Miss Chris

 Miss Jacque

 Miss Carol

Now we are going to enjoy Summer and embark on a new adventure......KINDERGARTEN!

Mother's Day 2012

Mother's Day was different this year then it has been in the past.  Chad is out of town, and has been for a couple of weeks now.  I was being selfish and was kind of bummed that I wasn't going to have a day where I could just relax.  But, the girls made my day wonderful!  I was woken up in the morning by this lovely plate of breakfast in bed.  On the menu?  A piece of toast with butter melted on it, honey, little pepperoni, and a chocolate malt egg in the center.  All beautifully surrounded by some pennies.  The girls put so much thought into this plate, and it made me feel so loved!  Even though it wasn't necessarily edible, I wouldn't have wanted anything different.

After breakfast we got ready for church, and I was lucky enough to hear the girls sing to me.  I cried.  I've never been emotional before when they have sung in church, but for some reason I was today.  I think it was because I was looking at my beautiful girls and realizing that they are growing up!  ALL of my girls are in "real" primary now.  No more nursery for us.  They have sprung up like Spring flowers, and I am afraid that time is passing me by too quickly.  They are beautiful, sweet, and caring little girls, and I want them to stay that way forever! (well, most days :) )  I am so thankful that I get to be their mother.  What an amazing privilege!

After church, my sister and her family came over, and we enjoyed a nice dinner with great conversation, and lots of laughs.

I am so grateful to my own mom and for all that she has taught me!  She is such an amazing woman!!  I hope that I can be as good of a mom to my girls, as she has been to me!  Love you mom!

Happy Mother's Day out there to all of my wonderful friends and family members that are moms!  You have all been an inspiration to me!!

Fun with Friends

We have some fabulous friends, the Prentice's.  They have 2 little girls that are the same age as my girls are, and they always have such a great time together.  Their mother, Sarah, and I met in nursing school, and we have stayed in contact since that time.

Now that the weather is starting to be warm (sometimes) we have been getting together to play.  We went to the zoo, had birthday parties, and played at the park.  My girls ADORE her girls and ask if they can play with them all of the time :) It is so fun to see the fun little friendships that my girls are creating as they start to get older.  And, i'm so happy that their friends are so fabulous!

Loved This

I love reading a blog called Nie Nie's Dialogues (you can find it on my sidebar).

The woman of this blog is absolutely amazing! She is such an inspiration. Seriously, you should look at her blog :)

Anyways, she did a contest where people could write an essay on what motherhood is to them, and then she picked 5 winners and will be posting their essays every Tuesday until Mother's Day. The one for this week was wonderful! What is says is so true, and the woman that wrote it definitely has a talent for writing. I wish I could write this well :)

This essay reminds me of my mom, and the hope I have that I can be everything that this essay talks of as well!

Enjoy!

Sensible Shoes

by: Emily Baer

Motherhood is mostly about wearing the right shoes.

We are ballet dancers with our newborns in the middle of the night. We are construction workers on the living room carpet with our toddlers and their building blocks. We are scientists and mystics when banishing bad dreams and monsters in the closet. We are coaches, cheerleaders, teammates when life gets tough and faith is thin on the ground. We are therapists and sometimes we are drill sergeants. We are intuitive, understanding, and forgiving. We are the kissers of boo-boos, the medical team on the field, the picker-uppers, the duster-offers, the go-get-em-now-ers.

We are the teenage battering rams. We are the least liked chefs. We are the ponytail wearers, the carpool drivers, the wipers of smudges, the please and thank you enforcers.

We are the grateful recipients of dandelions and painted paper hearts, of whispered I love you’s and little hands held in the dark; and also of rolled eyes and skeptic pre-teen attitudes.

We are a brave face. We are pilgrims on our knees asking for guidance, direction, and a few tablespoons of grace. We are the tearful-proud standing in the corners, watching our little ones blossom for all the world to see.

We are believers of make believe and impossible dreams. We are the keepers of maps, the holders of keys, pilots and co-pilots when those dreams take flight (and they regularly do).

We are champions of the underdog. We are party planners and cupcake decorators, banner hangers and town criers when the world should know how wonderful our children are.

We are the oft under-consulted consultants. We are collectors, curators of our children’s hopes and histories.We are the ride to the movies, the ticket to freedom, the tether to self discipline.

We are the first sought when something is amiss. We are the seekers and the finders, be it mittens, or homework papers, or broken heart pieces. We are a harbor. And a force. We are just the right words at just the right moment; a quiet resolve to see things all the way through.

And when it is entirely necessary, we are professors of lost arts, like how to spin around barefoot in the sunshine.

My new job.....

Is quite fabulous!!

I just wanted to take a minute and write about my new job.

I'm sure that this will be boring for most of you, but I wanted to write it down anyways :)

I have only been at my job for a couple of weeks now, but I absolutely love it!

The people are so nice and welcoming!

They have taken me in, and treated me like I have been there forever.

After not working for over 8 years, jumping back into the work-field has been quite intimidating, but my wonderful coworkers have made that transition a breeze.

I'm excited to go to work! I love the residents that live there! I love the friendships that I am creating.

This has been a true blessing for us.

I know that I am working at this facility for a reason, and I am so happy that I am there!

One of the perks of my job....they like to celebrate the holidays. They always do an Easter Egg Hunt, and I was invited to bring my girls. They loved it!! Here are a few pictures:

McKinzley and Taylin waiting for the hunt to begin. I was clear across the field, and this was as far as my phone camera would zoom in :)

Checkin out the loot

The Easter Bunny even made a visit!

When did she grow up?

With all the hustle and bustle of the past couple of weeks, we haven't been able to celebrate McKinzley's birthday completely. (I know, I am horrible!)

She wanted to take 2 friends with her to get their nails painted and have lunch.

So grown up!

We started out the day at the local Walmart to start the pampering.

Pretty colors!

Ahhhhh....so nice.....

Finished product

Lunch at McKinzley's favorite place, Francesco's

Proof that they thought it was delish! (Yes, 3 little girls ate an entire LARGE pizza!)

It was so fun to just sit back and listen as these cute girls giggled about everything from their nails, hair, friends at school, and just about anything else you can think of.

It amazes me how grown up my girls are getting. When did this happen??

My favorite part is knowing that McKinzley chose Taylin as one of her friends to take on her "Girls Day Out".

I am so happy that those two are friends and that they will always have each other.

FHE

At the first of the year, Chad and I decided that we really wanted to have FHE every week.

We think it is important to not only teach our girls about the gospel, and our values, but the time spent together as a family is so precious and important.

I want the girls to remember these times, and have it make our family stronger.

I'm so glad that we have been consistent in having it! We haven't missed one single week! Pretty amazing for us :)

This week it was such beautiful weather, that we broke out the bikes and took the girls down to the church parking lot where they could just ride their little hearts out.

We played, we laughed, and it felt GOOD!!

(oh, and Taylin finally got the hang of riding a two-wheeler without training wheels!!! She has been working so hard on that! So proud of her!!)

She's a fiesty little thing :)

I became a mom for the 1st time.......

9 years ago!

I didn't know how much my life would be changing once I had this beautiful girl, but I am so happy that it did! McKinzley is such a sweet, caring, genuine, spirited, beautiful girl, and she has taught me so much about myself, and being a mom. I can't believe that next year she will be in the double digits!

As a mom, sometimes I think that it would be nice if some of the girls were a little bit older so that they could be a little bit more independent....it would just make things so much more convienent. But, I honestly don't want it to happen.

I look at McKinzley, and she is growing into such a beautiful young lady inside and out, but I don't want her to grow up. I want her to stay mine forever. I am so proud of her!

I am so blessed to have this sweet girl in my life!

I love you McKinzley!!

Happy Birthday!!