Catch Up

It's official. I have become a pathetic blogger. I use to update this thing 3-4 times a week and now I'm averaging only about one post a month and that's on a good month! So today you get a months worth of posts all piled into one. Luck you.

THE SILVER BULLET

This silver beauty has been Mike's commuter car for the past nine years. He's hit a deer in it, the front grill flew off while driving, and he's replaced the entire engine, but it has carried him safely to and from work and has been our little baby. Mike calls it "the silver bullet." I call it his "wind-up car." We have loved having it, dent and all, but we finally felt it was time to say goodbye and let someone else enjoy her in all her glory, so we listed her on KSL and by the end of the day she was gone. It was a sad, sad day, but the 16-year-old girl who bought it was thrilled to have her first car and we know she'll treat our baby well.

12-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Mike and I celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary on May 14th. Mike surprised me with a private airplane ride over the Salt Lake Valley. We got to fly right over our house (middle house in cul-de-sac) which was really cool .

We also flew over or around five beautiful LDS temples. Our bishop has a plane and was kind enough to take us on the flight. Mike's dream is to learn to fly airplanes or helicopters, so he loved having a mini flying lesson along the way.

OUR FAVORITE MISSIONARIES

Both sets of our parents are currently serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mikes parents (left) are serving in Budapest, Hungary (you can follow their blog here) and my parents (right) are serving in the Family History Center in downtown Salt Lake City. They are both doing awesome and we love hearing about all of their amazing experiences.

NEW BIKE

Mike surprised me with a new beachcomber bike for my birthday and I have been peddling it all around town like the Wicked Witch of the West (as Mike teases) ever since. Lilly loves to be pulled behind in her little trailer. I've been trying to bike everywhere I possibly can and was able to make it an entire week without driving my car. It was fabulous!

HOUSE UPDATES

I have been very slowly working on getting our new home decorated. I'll share pictures as I get things finished, but today I'll just share a quick photo of the numbered baskets I added to our mud room lockers.

LADY LILLY

Lilly is growing like a weed. She now weighs 22 pounds and has finally upgraded to a front-facing carseat. She loves to read (she especially loves David books) and is always bringing us books to read to her.

Lilly looks slightly freaky in this picture (even so she's still stinkin' cute), but it shows her sitting like a big girl up at the counter. She absolutely refuses to sit in her high chair and insists on sitting at the counter next to Bryson. She is also walking up and down stairs now and can put on her own socks and shoes.

ART MASTERPIECE

I have been volunteering at Bryson's school a ton this year. I give his class their spelling test each week and I also teach Art Masterpiece twice a month. The eight prints below are the ones I've shared with Bryson's class this year. I have loved teaching the kids about each of the different artists as well as the different principles and elements of design (ie: line, shape, form, space, value, texture, color, balance, contrast, movement, pattern, etc). Art, like music, is such a powerful form of expression and I have loved sharing my love of it with Bryson and his class.

CANCER IS SO LIMITED

My beautiful and amazing little sister Rachel was diagnosed with uterine cancer last month and had to have a hysterectomy in order to remove the cancer. Luckily the cancer was contained to just the uterus and she is now cancer free, but it was definitely a huge scare. Our prayers were answered and we feel so blessed she is still with us. My other amazing little sister Taylor created this beautiful video of Rachel's experience.



PLAYING

Bryson spends every free moment he possibly can playing outside with the neighborhood kids. I had to snap a picture of how cute they looked playing "school" in a box.

YARD GAMES

Now that we finally have a yard, we've been spending a lot of time enjoying it. For Mother's Day Mike gave me some yard games (Bocce & Croquet) that we've enjoyed playing out in the yard as a family.

DANCING

After a hard day of working in the yard there's nothing better than to end the day with dancing. Ever since Lilly joined our family, we've been doing a lot of this lately because she just loves it and can't get enough of it.


Mike cracks me up...


Favorite quote this week:

"If you don't accept excuses, then people will stop giving them and will start looking for solutions."

-Ben Carson

Life rules.

Life Lately...

I absolutely love life right now! I love being a mother and having the privilege of staying home with my children. Yes, it's exhausting and hard at times, but it is by far the most rewarding and fulfilling job I have ever had. I love this season in my life and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

We have a lot going on right now in our lives. Here's look at a few:

1) Kindergarten Graduation


Our little man is just a few days away from being a kindergarten graduate! As I watched his adorable kindergarten program I thought about the man he will someday become and how this moment in time will someday be only a memory. He is growing up so quickly and so often I wish I could just hold on to every second I have with him a little longer, but at the same time I am continually in awe of the amazing little man he is becoming and I learn so much from his example every day. I feel so incredibly blessed to be his mother.


2) Half Marathon Training

I have been busy training to run another half marathon. It's been especially fun this year because a big group of family and friends are training to run as well. I love running! I look forward to my morning runs on the Jordan River Trail and the little community of runners I see every day. There's the lady that pushes her dog in a stroller, four little old men that always brighten my morning with their friendly "hello's", the lady that runs in five inch heels (no joke, she totally does and one of these days I'm going to stop her and ask her why), and my good buddy Virgil who maintains the trail. He drives a little golf cart up and down the trail and always stops to say hello and comment on how cute Lilly is. There is nothing more refreshing than running in the fresh, crisp morning air and having the chance to be alone with my thoughts and my Father in Heaven. Running not only strengthens my body, but it also strengthens my spirit and I think that's what I love the most about it. The path I run on is lined with beautiful Forget-me-not flowers and always reminds me of the amazing talk Elder Uchtdorf gave about them (read it here). Lilly is my little running partner and seems to love it every bit as much as I do.


3) Moving
We have been busy getting our house all packed up and will be moving next weekend. We have absolutely LOVED our home, our ward and the opportunities we've been given to serve, but have recently started feeling that it is time to get into a home with a yard and a neighborhood full of kids (we don't have either right now). Bryson is at the age that he really needs that. Our new home in Riverton will be home #6 for us in our 11 years of marriage and we're crossing our fingers it's our last!

This will most likely be my final blog post from this home, which makes me a little sad, but we are excited to start our new adventure and look forward to the friendships and memories that are soon to be made.

Favorite quote this week:

"Your children will become who you are; so be who you want them to be."

Life rules!