June 2015

June 1-

^In the summer we go to the pool almost every day and sometimes pack a lunch. :)

^For FHE we went to the pool as a family again later. :)

June 2-

^At random we get together on Tuesday evenings for GNO at the movies since it's $5. :) Usually happens the night of. Love my neighborhood friends.

June 3-

^Karate Kai! Still going strong. He loves it. Yellow belt. :)

^A group got together and went for a hike of Bell Canyon. 

^These friends are good examples of getting out of the house with the kids in nature. They had a blast. Grateful for the invites.

 ^Doing hair late into the night for this cute friend. 

June 4-

^We went to to zoo with my cousins and my kids cousins. 

 Love family time.

June 5-

^Our band opened up our season playing at a neighborhood party. Good practice start. 

^After we got shakes. :)

June 6-

^Ang and I went to Super Saturday for our coaching job. Fun to work with friends.

^Cold Storage played in Country Fest in South Jordan. Fun gig. We barely missed all the rain! Went to dinner with bandmates after and ice cream. :) Great friends.

June 7-

^Sarah started writing cursive. Practice in sacrament meeting. :)

June 8-

^Still my snuggle bug monkey. 

June 9-

^Meg and Kris. My work out buddies. Couldn't do it without them!

^So precious. Especially the stillness when they sleep. 

^I hosted bunko. The food and company are always something to look forward to. :)

June 11-

^Ed subbed in as coach for Kai's soccer team one week. Kai mostly runs with the crowd, but we can get him to kick the ball once in a while. ;)

 

^In prep for our 50's themed Activity Days Father/Daughter I made a car for the photo booth with cardboard boxes and poster paint. Turned out pretty good. :)

^ I love going on evening walks. Love my neighborhood and the sky is so beautiful most nights.

June 12-

^I am taking pictures all the time now that I post about my lifestyle for my job. Showing people the way I live is just part of my life now. My kids are used to it. They join in with exercises and pics now. I'm okay with them learning to be healthy and confident. :) Madison did yoga with me today. i don't mind working around her. Adorable girl.

 ^The kitties are still a part of our family. Nimbus and Auz hang out in our room most times now. Napping in our room in a patch of sun by our balcony door, or under our bed. Auz follows Sarah around and sleeps with her every night, and Nimbus comes out after the kids are in bed and demands some attention. Oh, the life of a cat...:)

 ^For our 50's Activity Days Father/Daughter we had diner food, complete with root beer and orange floats.

^The girls wore their poodle skirts and learned some dances with their dads. The dads were such good sports with their daughters. So cute to see the relationships between all of them. I'm sure it was strengthened and the girls will have good memories of the night.

June 13-

 ^I signed up for the "Drop 13" marathon and was happy to see that friends did too! Always nice to have someone there with you in the wee hours of the morning to help navigate. :) I met up with Tom bright and early for the bus ride to the start. 

^My goal is always to improve- even by seconds. I felt tight from mile 4 on, like on the verge of cramping in my quads, but I never did. By mile 9 I caught the mile marker just ahead of me and was happy to see it was the 1:40 time. All downhill was rough, but also awesome if you're looking to PR. I love the race and finished with a PR. :) So great to see my supportive family at the end. :) So much more worth it.

 ^These were my sweet friends at the beginning and end. Beautiful run, and everyone did well. :) Brock, Jennie, Me, Tom, Natalie & Andrew

^ This race gives multiple medals. I got a finishing medal, a Personal Record medal, and I "dropped 13" pounds in my training period before this race as well- so I got a medal for that! So great! Down Big Cottonwood Canyon. Great race if you're looking for one. Multiple motivators. :)

^We took it easy in the afternoon and went to the pool with the kids.

^Every year I take multiple pictures of the mountains as I drive towards the East. SO beautiful! Never gets old.

 ^In the evening we had a work dinner for Ed. After, he and I got a treat and went to a movie. Jurrasic World. Love that we make date nights a priority.

June 15-

 ^Our kids can be overly friendly. :) It's nice when people are accepting. These cute girls let him join right in their fun. Hopefully he keeps up his luck with the ladies. ;)

June 16-

 ^Another GNO for Tuesday movies. We saw "Aloha". It was LAME and so random! Good thing the company was good. And the ice cream...;)

June 17-

 ^Kai with his neighborhood karate buddies. Sports are always more fun when you do them with people you know. Cute boys.

^When the Laytons come to stay, we play, ...and eat large amounts of traditional foods called strawberry shortcake made by Ryan. Yum! Balance baby!

June 18-

^Kater with green berry Shakeology face. :) Madison during nap time. Sweet little body. Always need a pic.

June 19-

^Our bandmate, Jason's, "other" band One Punch Opie asked if I'd sing a song with their band at the Bountiful Car Show. Fun to sing any time. Good time and the kids got their faces painted. :)

June 20-

^Cold Storage played at Herriman Days. Just getting our name out there and playing on community stages. We do it for fun, and because we like it so it doesn't matter who listens. The sounds system and stage was awesome at this show! Great when they do it all for us. Too bad we only had a few close fans. :) Ha! There were some from afar. 

^We went with the Price's and Fitch's(my old seminary teacher-ha!) to Alison Krauss and Willie Nelson at Usana. We loved having seats, but were bummed that Alison couldn't sing from being sick. Willie did a great job as an 82 yr old though! Fun night and great company. Love live music.

June 21- Father's Day

 ^We had family dinner on Father's Day at Cami's.  Grateful for my pop!

^Glad we got to celebrate Ed today. The kids sure love him. Especially Madison. Total Daddy's girl! She has him wrapped around her finger. I love watching him teach them and spend time with them. I can see how much they value it and how important it is to have a man of the house. He can do so many things for them that I can't. He has strengths that I don't. He makes them waffles almost every Sunday. He creates special memories for them because he wants them to have the best. Thanks for being a great dad, Ed. The kids and I love you!

 ^Laytons came back and we gamed it up! Even after Maren and I go to bed, the guys stay up and kill zombies since they really only ever play video games together. Special bonds. Great friends. We love it when they come to town and stay. Treat is a good word.

June 22-

^Spirit week! Crazy hair day at school.

 ^To the pool and Iceberg. Another tradition to check off. :) And more zombies. Nerds.

June 23-

 ^Crazy sock day! AND I finally taught Sarah how to tie her own shoes! Whoop whoop!

June 24-

^My angel babe. Not so baby anymore. :( Precious princess. So sweet. Growing up is hard on us all. Love her. I have to document all of it. Don't ever want to forget these moments. I know I'll look back and miss. I already do... :(

June 25-

 ^Random downstair bathroom flooding used up all the towels in the house. No bueno! Got it back in control okay.

 ^Sarah's cute puppet she made for their Chinese program puppet show.

^Patriotism just makes us that much cooler! ;) Always fun with Mare.

June 26-

^We took the kids to the zoo. Good times.

 ^Full day event to wear us all out! :)

^Maren watched the kids while we went out on a date. Dinner and a movie with the Hanks. Love 'em!

^If you know Ed, you know he loves cars. Always checking them out. ;) So funny. Caught him in the act.

 June 27-

^Kai had a birthday party so Maren and I took the girls to Cinderalla. 

 ^Funny pics to show Kai's personality. Such a funny kid. Love our Kai.

June 29-

^Typical workout post. Always workin'. 

 ^Our cute Sarah giving Nimbus some love. It's like a treat when he lets the kids pet him. :) Cute kitty! Except for him bringing in bugs and mice to play with and leave their parts all around my house. That part is NOT cute!

 ^It has to be documented when the littlest starts using a potty! Cute little bean has been potty training. Diapers are disappearing! Hip Hip Hooray!

June 30-

^Love my sweet mama. She comes every other week to keep me on a schedule and helps me clean my bathrooms and mop my floors. I love any time with her. We clean together and visit. I look forward to it even though we are cleaning. Isn't she beautiful? She makes me feel important and always gives great advice and a listening ear.

May 2015

May 2-

^ Every year we are fortunate to be invited to a Cinco de Mayo party. The food and company is always spectacular. 

May 3-

^ Madison loves getting her nails done. Sunday morning is typically a good day we're all home and have time before church. Later we went on a walk and ran into Madison's long time friend Keaton, who picked her up in his ride. Cuties. ;)

May 5-

^I love my neighborhood. We get together periodically on Tuesday nights to catch a chick flick on $5 night. Anyone is welcome!

May 6-

^It's always fun to come across these drawings of Sarah's. This is a picture she drew of our band, Cold Storage. :)

May 7-

^Kristen and David came in town for a wedding so we saw them for a day. I was able to watch the kiddos while they went to the temple. Baby Gray came with me to an RS activity. It was a treat. The other kids play better and better as they get older. So glad we've been able to keep this connection. 

May 8-

^Goodbye Katz's. Hope to see you soon!

^At the park. Kai decided to conquer the monkey bars. I love that he is getting more confident in trying things and growing up.

May 9-

^I went shopping with Mom for Mother's Day. Kai had a blast at a Star Wars bday party. 

May 10- Mother's Day

^So happy to be their mama. Can't believe how old they are getting! I love their individual, unique personalities. Motherhood is a work in progress. Dealing with changes as they grow, but I appreciate them for giving me this role. They are super forgiving of any weaknesses and always show me love and want me. It feels amazing to be needed. I need them as much as they need me. I'm sure every mom feels this, but I think they are the cutest little faces ever!

^Ed is good at going all out and assuming my duties on special days. He made us German pancakes for the first time we've ever had them. Strawberries and apples. He made me steak, my fave, and baklava for the second year in a row. It's amazing btw! Thanks for the appreciation babe, sometimes you're better at my job than me. :) Lucky to have you as my other half.

May 12-

^Pizza at the soccer field for the fam. And delicious food for me at bunko. I love food. 

May 13-

^My CA friend Whitney came into town and it's the first time since I'd seen her since we both moved away from CA 3.5 years ago! She moved to WA and we moved to UT. Still love her the same and it was fun to catch up and spend the day with her. 

May 14-

^Finding ways to get them to eat snack variety. :) They do so well

^Dinner at Blue Lemon with Whit and Nat, and then Swig after to introduce Whit. ;) Hooray for GNO!

May 15-

^Have lunch with your kid day. :) Fun to be in class with Sar-bear. And daddy was home so she got both parents!! 

^Since we couldn't leave, we brought the campground to the backyard. :) We roasted hot dogs...

^We roasted smores....

^Ed set up the tent and we watched a short movie... and then Mads and I slept inside and Ed slept outside with the older kids... until about 1:30am when they froze and came in and slept in the family room. :)

May 17-

^Snuggly Madison in the early morn. And then on the pews at church. :)

May 18-

^Ed wanted to put flower beds around the perimeter of the yard. So he got a sod cutter and started the process. Big project! Luckily people came to take the sod and haul it themselves. No more mowing fence lines or under the trampoline. We'll finish the project another year. :)

May 20-

Cute Mads, and a run later with all 3 kids! 2 on bikes and one pushed.

^I had meant to make Ed this book for a year!!! So the night before our 11th anniversary, I finally finished and gave it to him! :) Fun to look back. We have grown together and have a lot in common.

May 21-

^The ladies I work out with every day. We have fun. :)

^I met with a Beachbody mentor to discuss.

^ Ed got me some pretty flowers. We went to dinner and got dessert. Happy 11th anniversary babe! I am totally content. Good place to be.

May 22-

^These kiddos always surprise me. They are so good to eat fresh.

May 23-

^One of our neighbors invited me on a bike ride with some other neighbors and even had a bike for me to use. Fun being active with the neighbors and trying some new exercise. Cross training is great. I hadn't ridden a bike for about 10 years and I really liked it. After the ride, they had us over for crepes too. So nice, those Kelly's! :)

^We got dinner and went to the REAL game with friends for date night. Love variety of dates. :) Fun night. 

May 24-

^We had family dinner at dad's. He has had a bug zapper for years. We were all challenged to touch it. Stupid, but pretty funny. Youch!

May 25-

^Got to see Mrs. Julia for the afternoon. Fun to catch up. So good seeing her always!

May 26-

^Fun to see my friend Andrea on runs. That's about the only time we get to mingle. The kids and I, and our routine. Shakes every morn. :)

^Dinner group is still going on. I made cobb sandwiches for the group. Fun to try new recipes.

^Angie is sweet to get together with me to help get this work stuff figured out. I feel like I'm in school again, getting together with teacher to be better and more organized. A treat! All of it.

May 27-

^The hale was crazy! So loud. I video the unordinary. 

^ Mads on the potty. Pretty sure this is the first time she went pee on the potty. Worth documenting. It's a start! :) 

And I created my team page for work. It's the start of something big! So glad I started this journey! Can't wait until I have a solid team of ladies to join me and benefit in the multiple ways. Looking forward to some relationship building and progress. Living a dream I didn't really know existed. Even if it's going to be hard work, it's worth it! It's okay to have new dreams pop up on your docket, right? Kind of what happened with the band too. Never expected or planned it to happen. But I'm glad it did. :) Now I just need to find a way to balance it all!!

May 28-

^Snuggles with Mads. I love that she know to smile when mommy turns the camera around. Sharing our life. That's what we do. Day in and day out. Hoping it helps someone.

^I love digging in the dirt. Something so soothing about it. I watched my mama do it and didn't know that I'd ever like to weed. But I do. :) I get it now. And it reminds me of my mom. 

^Kai's preschool graduation #2! :) Yes, he was beyond ready but we are confident with our decision to let him start his school career as one of the oldest. He is definitely ready to be challenged and pushed. His sweet teachers were great with him and I feel like they truly accepted him and helped him thrive through the year.  We celebrated after his program with ice cream of course! :)

^Part of the program. Cute boy

^More program

May 29-

^ Ed rode with Sarah and the other kids to school because she is always begging. Glad she likes to be active. Glad she has a great daddy. 

We  celebrated our anniversary multiple times this year. :) Yeates helped us celebrate at a nice dinner. Great friends are always good to have around. 

May 30-

^Our community does a yard sale twice a year. First one I've done. Cam came too. Always better with family. :) Then later we went to the pool. Chill day. 

May 31-

^Banana pancakes. New recipe for me. They are good, and filling and they just look pretty, right?!

^Madison skipped her nap she usually takes after sacrament, so I carried her in and she was asleep on me within minutes. :) Sweetheart. Kids before bedtime. Loving their oreos. Nothing like 'em!