July 2012

 I love the 4th of July, really really love it.  This year Shimayne invited us to go to the Balloon Festival or whatever it is called.  So I took my girls and they loved it.  I love hot air balloons and don't ever remember doing this but have always wanted to.  It was a great experience!

 We always go to the parade and then have a barbecue at my house afterwards.  I love it so much!

 Look at that cute girl.  Man I love her.  She loves the 4th about as much as I do!

Another great thing about July is my younger sister's birthday.  I love her and her husband so much.  We are so close with them and our kids love each other so much.  Right after these two got married, they moved to Nebraska and I literally thought my heart was ripped out.  It was so hard for me.  Thankfully they moved back not too long after they left and they have made my life so much fuller and greater!  I'm so thankful for them and love them both so much!

June 2012

 I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture of Brooklyn.  She is my little spit fire and it is hard to get a picture of her looking at me AND smiling.  Don't mind the fact she does not have any pants on.  One time she was quiet for a while (which never happens with Brooklyn) and I went in to find her and she had put on every one of our necklaces.  She looks pretty darn cute!

 My friend Kasha invited us to the Princes Festival at Thanksgiving Point.  It was so great.  We had such a great time and my girls were so happy to dress like princesses. 

 Eliot with Brielle and Brooklyn.

 I sure love this little princess!

 I gave Brielle a couple of options of doing this or that and she wanted her face painted so we did it, and she loved it. 

 So of course Eliot and Brooklyn also wanted to get their faces painted.  We love good friends!

 Meeting Arial..

This picture is so serene.  Brooklyn loves her sister so much and is very protective of her.  You think that it would be Brielle who is more protective of Brooklyn, but it is the opposite.  What sweet girls I have.  We had such a great time.  Thanks Kasha for inviting us!

May 2012 - Red Rock Relay

 So in April we had ward choir at our house and afterwards my good friend Amy said that they were looking for people to run the RRR with them the first part of May and asked if I wanted to.  After explaining in great detail that I really didn't run (except jog slowly on the treadmill) I said I would if they promised it was okay if I walked most of the time.  She said yes and so I asked my incredible cousin Aubree if she wanted to join and she said yes, so we did it and it was definitely a highlight of my life.  I think I probably complained a little too much about how much better everyone else was than I was, but I'll tell you what, I LOVED IT!  I loved being in the van with everyone for 14 hours straight.  I loved cheering them on and having them cheer me on.  I did walk most of the time and flared up my asthma for a couple of months afterward but I had such a great time.  I am so thankful they invited me even though I was not a real runner.  They scenery was fantastic and it was a beautiful day for the run.  Above and below pictures are my cousin, Aubree, and I.

 I love this picture of Tara.  She looked perfect every step she took.

 Greg was having a great time!

 This little boy was a perfect angel the whole car ride.  I couldn't believe how good he was the whole time.  What a sweet face!

 Here we are at the end, Amy, Kris Tina, Greg, Tara, Me and Aubree.  We finished with smiles on our faces.  Thanks again for inviting me Amy and Kris Tina!

Tulip Festival

 I love Thanksgiving Point gardens.  I especially love the Tulip Festival.  This was a perfect day in April to go.  It was overcast, so not too hot or too cold.  I wish my camera could capture the beauty of this place.  I love it so much.

 I had to wear my glasses for ten weeks prior to getting my eye surgery.  I wish I would have remembered to take them off.  Oh well.  I sure love my girls. 

 I love the way they put colors together.  They are amazing.

 Brielle is my little climber.  She loves to climb and she is so careful so I don't worry about her very much when she is climbing.

 AAAHHHHHHHHHH!  Love

 Again another picture of my kids smelling flowers.

 What a cheezy grin. 

I love this picture.  This is probably the best one I got.  What vibrant colors!

Jaron's Birthday

 

 

 My nephew, Jaron, turned 2 (in April, still catching up).  I love this boy, seriously love this boy.  I have told Shell many times if I knew I could get a clone of this boy, I would get pregnant ASAP.  He is so good natured and loving and sweet and cute and I could go on and on.  Shell and Ryan put on this awesome party with outdoor games, indoor hide and seek glow in the dark egg hunt, indoor games and fun presents.  I love this lower picture of him with his Buzz hat.  He looks so awesome.

 

 Shell made this amazing soccer cake.  Didn't she do a great job?  Happy birthday Jaron.  We sure love you sweet boy!

 

Brooklyn's stacking abilities

I love this girl.  Really I do.  There are many times I joke about wanting to sell her for a few days, but she does capture your heart.  If you have ever been around her for an extended period of time, you know she pushes buttons, doesn't listen and drives me INSANE most of the time.  If you have only been around her a little amount of time, you think she is this talking adult in a child's body.  She charms everyone she meets and I love her for that.  She is such a loving child and I love that about her as well.  One of the things I love about her are her OCD tendencies.  She loves to stack things and line things up.  She made this stack all by herself with NO help.  If I don't watch her closely, she will stack sour cream, line up socks or line up things on a shelf at the store.  I find it so funny but we may have issues with it in the future.  Only time will tell.  What a cutie.

Zoo

 I love the zoo.  I have to admit this was not always the case but now that I have kids, I love to watch them and their excitement.  We went in April and this was the biggest turtle I have seen there!  He was huge!

 Then of course the picture of them on the tigers. 

 This one is classic. 

 My girls love the playground, probably more than seeing the animals really.  We went just last week (September) and the playground was closed and I almost asked for my money back.  I was so sad.  We may not be going again until they open up the playground!  The rocky shores exhibit was cool though.  I am almost through April....watch me catch up!

 

Mike's dad's wedding, part 4 - April 2012

 So I am behind, but I am making a valiant effort in the next few days to catch up, since my work load has been light this week.  Mike's dad got married the first part of April and Mike was able to attend the ceremony, but due to lack of communication, I was not, which was sad.  We did a few pictures outside of the temple and then had a wonderful luncheon in the Joseph Smith Memorial building. 

 Man those are some precious beautiful girls I have!

 I don't know why, but I love to get pictures of my girls smelling flowers.  Does anyone else do this?

 Here is the Gulbrandsen family - Doug and Linda got married.  Then Rachel and Phil on the left - Mike in the top middle and Thomas on the right.  What a great looking bunch!

 I tried for 10 minutes to get pictures of them looking at me and smiling with the temple in the background and this was the best one.  Sad story..

Happy 10-year anniversary to Mike and I yesterday!  Wow - how did that go by so fast.  I can't believe we have been married that long.  It seems crazy.  I love you Mike!

Also happy 43 year anniversary to my incredible parents!  Sure love you mom and dad!

Happy birthday Brooklyn, no wait me, no wait Brooklyn..Happy birthday to both of us!

 Happy birthday to my little girl!  I cannot believe she is 2 already.  I have had a lot of people say oh that is so great to be able to share your birthday with your daughter and I bet when she is older I will love it but right now, I feel kind of cheated.  I feel like I should be doing all these things for her when I just want to relax and be pampered myself but I'll tell you what, it was a great day!  We started our birthdays by my mom and sister taking me to IHOP.  It was awesome!

 Then since Mike had taken the day off, we then went as a family to Kangaroo Zoo.  The kids had a great time!  Mike and I got to have a good time just relaxing and watching them have fun.  I love Brooklyn's faces in these pictures. 

 I also was very lenient with her binky so she was a happy camper that day.

 My two styling girls.

 I love this pictures of Brooklyn and her presents.  She is such a cutie!

 Here is her sunshine cake I made.

 Shell and Ryan just got back from Disneyland and they brought these cute ears back.

 My cute friend Amy always takes pictures of her kids with their balloons on their birthdays and I love it so I tried it and it didn't quite work out as well because the sun was really bright but I still love it.

 Mike's family couldn't make it to the party earlier so they had another one for us and we had a blast. 

Happy birthday sweet girl!