Fabulous 4th!

The kids had lots of fun getting each other wet before we busted open the poppers!

David was able to bring his friend Cody with us.

This is my favorite picture!

This is what happened to some of the streamers after they came out!

It was very windy so the sound is bad on this video. But the end is worth it!

These are all the people we had fun with this year! The kids were all over the place having a blast! Beware of the "ending"! HAHA!

In order if you can follow them are: Matthew, Jeffrey, David, Samuel and Cody. Careful this will make you sick!

Since Hailey was asleep, some of us were brave enough to climb up on the patio roof to watch the fireworks! 2 years ago we were able to see 5 different locations worth of fireworks! This year because of the wind factor, Peoria Sports Complex were the only ones brave enough to give us a show! God Bless America!

Best Fort EVER!!

It has always been a very fun past-time to build a fort and play in it! My kids sometimes build one in the corner, but today I decided to help them out a little! I used almost every chair I had (except 2) and used hairties to keep the blankets on the chairs for the roof! Then draped sheets and blankets on the sides and propped the cushions for the walls! The kids got their pillows and played in there for awhile. I even put the Spider-man couch in front for the door! As you can tell they had a blast!

Escape from the Heat!

At the beginning of this month, I went up to Payson with the kids to visit my parents and sister. When we were there we went to a creek with the kayaks they had! There are a lot of pictures so brace yourself!













Summer Boys!













My boys wanted a turn to paddle also!













As soon as we were pushed offshore, this is where we ended up! (Under a tree!)













Enjoying the ride!













Looks like a Gondolier!













Matthew was done with the paddle. Good thing I was able to still reach it!













Eating lunch.















One of the other days we were up there we went bowling! This is the first time my kids have ever been bowling. They loved it!





Ole!











Just can't stand still!

Booty shake!

Kindergarten Graduation?

Even though I've heard of Kindergarten Graduation this is the 1st one for my kids. I must say, I was a little emotional at first until I thought, "Duh! This is just the beginning of his school experience, not the last!" So I thought I would share a couple of pictures. Sorry my camera doesn't do well with pictures far away.













This is David's teacher Mrs. Sorensen who will be moving up to the 1st Grade with him!













This is what happens when he has a hole in his shirt!













This is him asleep on little kid chairs in our bedroom!













This is my favorite picture that was taken last night in my bed! I thought it was cute how Matthew had his hands on David's arm! Hopefully he will look up to his older brother when they get older too!

Womens Conference

(from left to right: Terri, Tracie, me, Danette, Peggy and Shirley)

On Wed. the 30th of April some friends and I started our journey up to Provo, Utah for BYU's Annual Womens Conference! When we got there we checked into our dorms and headed for dinner at The Brick Oven. It's a pizza and salad bar restaurant and very good! Usually there is a senior brethren member who is the closing speaker on Friday. Last year we had Jeffrey R. Holland who spoke with his wife and at the end was inspired to give us an Apostolic blessing! So on Thurs. morning we grabbed a "program update" booklet to see what in the program they changed for different classes and things like that. On the first page it said the closing speaker for Friday was Pres. Thomas S. Monson! I about peed my pants and pretty much cried the whole morning session anticipating hearing the prophet speak to us! (Sorry, probably not a good analogy when talking about the prophet.) On Thursday night they put on a concert given by LDS artists. I loved it! They had Hilary Weeks hosting again this year, Kenneth Cope(I'm related through marriage), new artists Mercy River, Eclipse, a new kid group called LOL(Live Out Loud), Michael McLean, a special musical number given by the brethren of Mo-Tab(Mormon Tabernacle Choir) and Jenny Jordan Frogley! Afterward, they let you meet the artists outside in the cold for autographs, but it was totally worth it. Here are a few pictures from that!













Me and Hilary Weeks!













Me, Kenneth Cope and Danette!













Me and Jenny Jordan Frogley!

On Friday morning, in preparation for Pres. Monson, they told us that we should refrain from taking flash photography unless we owned a $15,000 camera! Needless to say there are people who just don't think the rules apply to them! Some of the things that I saw appalled me! The way they were leaning over the tunnel where he was to enter with camera's in hand! Did they think he was a celebrity or something? Give me a break people, he's a prophet of the Lord! I thought it was very disrespectful! Luckily, to my satisfaction, or probably for Pres. Monson's protection, they brought him out of a different tunnel! I was very good when I took my picture. I turned the flash off! Unfortunately, my picture was blurry from unsteady hands and being far away.













Yep, that guy at the podium is the prophet! He spoke on a couple of stories that were familiar to me so it was easy to pay attention. Didn't take a lot of notes though. Here a re the Monsonisms that I did write down. 1) Don't let the important things pass you by! 2) Find joy in the journey now! 3) (my favorite) When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on! All in all, the experience was fantastic! I can't wait until I am able to go again next year! I did have an issue with my roommate though. That might have to come later. It could take awhile to explain.

Catch Up!

Just to catch you up a little from the last post. I went to Womens Conference in Utah. After that, I ended up in the ER because of some pain I have been having off and on for about 2 years now. The pain gets so bad it makes me sick to my stomach and sometimes I vomit. Anyway, sometimes it has been because of a Kidney Infection and others I'm assuming are from the rib pain. Some things that set it off are: laying on the side of the tub to bathe the kids, laying on the floor on my stomach, laying or sitting in an awkward position and sometimes having my bra too tight! Strange, I know. Anything that seems to put too much pressure on my ribcage. So that's what's been keeping me from posting sooner. Now, on with the posts!

Hailey's Birthday Party

So I'm a little on the slow side, but for good reason, which will come later. I have to tell you about the phone. Every time Gordon comes through the front door Hailey runs to him and says, "Phone, please daddy!" Of course Gordon gives in. He always tells her that she cannot open it or he will take it away. So she has gotten so clever that she will open it, say, "Hello, goodbye, c-ya later," then promptly closes it! She has gotten so fast at it that Gordon can't say anything fast enough until it has already been closed! So she is totally getting away with it! I think it's hilarious! So for her birthday I got her a cute little pink razor that obviously flips open. She did the same thing with her phone thinking she was going to get it taken away! Now she will talk on it for a little bit longer but not much. Anyway, here are some pictures.