Father's Day

I know this post is a little late, but it is one that I have been wanting to do! I wanted to tell Brett, "Happy Father's Day" and thank him for being such a wonderful father to our children. As long as I can remember, Brett has always had a knack with kids. When we were dating he was just so good with all kids and any kids. I marveled at how he was so sweet his he nieces and nephews. I had never seen a man like this before! Then, when we were engaged, I think, no, I know, my little siblings and cousins started liking him more than they liked me. (At the time that bothered me, but now I completely understand and would like him more than I like me, too....he's way more funny and interesting than I am.) Anyway, now Brett is a wonderful dad to our 3 children. He is so wise and thoughtful in what he says and what he does. He is not just talking 'to them', if you know what I mean, everything he says has a purpose behind it. He is always looking for ways to teach the kids with the everyday, little things that go on in families and at our house. He has taught me to really include the kids in our daily chores and not just do it because I want it to get done, get done fast, and get done right. They need to learn somehow, right? Brett is an amazing father and husband. Just last weekend, my sister in law's and I were going to get together to go to dinner and maybe a movie or something. Well, the next thing I knew, Brett had booked all of us a hotel room up in Park City!! And if that wasn't enough, he had earned some extra, unexpected money at work and gave that to me for spending money in Park City! Isn't that sweet? When I earn or more likely find, some extra money, I think, "Oh, what am I going to buy with this?" But Brett always thinks of me first. He is such an example to me of unselfishness and service. He is always so thoughtful and I am so blessed to have him as my husband and our children's father.

I thought it would be fun to include some pictures of him throughout the years.

Connor and Brett in San Fran in 2005

Me and my hubby on our cruise last year

Another cruise shot........isn't he cute?

Love this picture.........

Here we are in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Brett doing one of the things he does best.........working on our garden. He is so good at gardening and planning it all out. Now this area is full of plants waiting to bear fruit! Can't wait!

Camping this year.

Words cannot describe this one..........Oooh la la!!!!

Graduation Day in 2006! We are all so proud and relieved that he is done! 8 years of full time school and full time work!! How did he do it? Nobody knows...we're just glad it's over!

Brett with Connor at one of his favorite places: the ocean

LOVE YOU BABE!

The Canyon

One of the best things about warmer weather is getting to go up to the mountains! We have a plethora of wonderful canyons with lots and lots of picnic areas to choose from. We went up to the canyon, despite being poured on early in the am. By afternoon, the weather was beautiful and we had a wonderful time. Thanks Natalie and Dave, for going with us!

Connor and Madison climbing with Brett.

The kids are pointing to the road here. It's in the background...you can see it if you look hard enough.
Kenna found this leaf and said, "Look mom, there's a heart in this leaf! It's for you!" So sweet!

Here are the kids at the entrance to a cave. We all went inside and the kids loved it! It was really dark, but we had head lamps. This was a highlight for the kids.

Twins Preschool Graduation

This year I did a joy school with my neighbors for the twins. It was a lot of fun, actually. There were 8 kids (which was a little on the much side) and some of them were just barely 3 (which was a little on the young side) but overall, it went really well. The kids became such good friends and love to play with eachother. They did wonderfully at learning their letter names and also the letter sounds. The twins are really ready to begin learning to read this summer which they are excited about and so am I!

I can't believe my babies are 5! Where does the time go? FIVE YEARS!!!! I seriously cannot believe they're so big!!! They will be in kindergarten next year and they are just so excited! I have some friends who are just so sure that I am the luckiest mom because all my kids will be in school.....well little do they know that I am not ready to send them away! These two are like my hands....I will feel lost without them. You know how most moms relish the time to go to the store by themselves and just be alone? Well, when I go to the store and I'm by myself, I think, "this is how it's going to be next year when they're in school. I'll be all alone, by myself with no little hands to hold, no arms to squeeze around my legs or neck, no slobbery lips to give my kisses, and no high-pitched, squeaky voices to hear call my name or sing a song. What am I going to do?" (Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy a nice shopping trip by myself every once in a while.) But being by myself means my babies are not babies any more. My children are growing up. I am not the mother of babies or even toddlers anymore, I am the mother of children; school-aged children. When did this happen? How has time passed so quickly? Now time will go even faster than it has before and soon, I'll be the mother of tweens and then teen-agers.

Ok.

I'm stopping.

After all this fretting about time passing so fast, one thing remains and shines through all the harshness of children growing so fast:

I have the privilege and blessing of being a mother.

That, in itself, is enough.

Connor's Baptism Day

What a wonderful day! We had such a special day with many friends and family. We are so proud of Connor and grateful that he made the decision to be baptized. It has been so neat to see the change come over Connor. Since he's been baptized, he is different. He is more submissive and soft and he's really taken a liking to the scriptures and to writing in his journal. He says he thinks the difference is the Holy Ghost. I agree. What a precious and marvelous gift.

The big boy in his new suit. Doesn't he look handsome?

Connor with G & G Bell

We want to thank all our friends and family who came to the baptism and who supported us on this special day.

Hillarious!!!

You have got to check out this awesome video of a group called, "Improv Everywhere." These are just all seemingly regular people in a mall food court, and then one worker at Hot Dog on a Stick just breaks out into song. This is great! I wish I could get my hands on one of those Hot Dog on a Stick outfits. Do you think they're on Ebay?

Called to Serve!

My sweet brother and sister went into the MTC 2 weeks ago. My sister is going to California to speak spanish and my brother is going to Chicago to speak spanish! Isn't that awesome? These are my two youngest siblings and I am so proud of them and I know they will do wonderfully.

The MTC was great! The spirit was so strong and singing "Called to Serve" started the tears. By the time it was time to say good-bye, we were all in tears and Connor was sobbing. He was so sad to say good-bye to my sister, he could barely stand it. But, we are so excited for them and we love them. We pray that they will find those who are ready.

Dave Ramsey

Brett and I had the wonderful opportunity to go see this guy:

If you have not heard of Dave Ramsey, you need to discover who he is. He is incredible! We first heard about Dave while listening to him on the radio. He is on 570 KNRS from 7-10 pm . I know, I know, it's an AM station, but really, that is what I listen to these days. FM radio has too many commercials and I have to save the music on my ipod for running days, or else I get tired of it-- so AM gets my attention. Anyway, we LOVE Dave Ramsey! We listened to him for a while and then read his book, "The Total Money Makeover," and we caught the bug to be debt free! Dave's philosophy makes so much sense and is so do-able. The total money makeover consists of 7 steps-- Dave calls them baby steps, like from the movie"What About Bob." We started the program in January. Since January we have paid off about $20,000 and by the end of this summer, we'll have paid off about $30,000! The cool thing is, is that he uses a lot of principles from the pamphlet the church published way back when, "One For the Money." He also uses a lot of scriptures from the Bible. His philosophy: "If you live like no one else, you can live like no one else." Meaning: if you give up things that everyone else is doing now like new furniture, finishing basements, newer, bigger cars, remodeling, boats, vacations, clothes, electronics, going out to eat all the time, blowing the budget, charging things just to get the 'benefits' etc., etc., etc.(and no offense to those who might be doing those things now. Trust me, we'll be doing some of those things when we can pay cash.) So, if you give up all those things now, later, you can do whatever you want with your money. I am so excited and just feel so in control of our finances now, which I am ashamed to say, I haven't felt our whole marriage. Isn't that horrible? My parents taught me well, but it seems I prefer to make the mistakes myself and then learn the lesson. I guess some things just have to be learned that way. In a few months we will be totally debt free, except for the house! No payments except the house! If you want to learn more about Dave, his philosophy and the "Total Money Makeover" click here.

We went along with our fabulous family, Natalie and Dave. We had a wonderful time and we were so motivated! Thanks for going with us guys!