Lauren's Wedding

Hard to believe that Andy has a niece old enough to be getting married. We were so glad we got to attend the wedding before flying to Spain. Aren't they a cute couple!

San Diego Temple

Andy's Family

The reception was BEAUTIFUL!! We like to call it the Martha Stewart wedding. It was picture perfect with dinner and dancing. Oh and did I mention we were there with NO KIDS!!!

I couldn't get enough of little Andrew!! What a cutie!!!

Half Marathon in Amish Country

On Memorial Day Lisa and I ran a half marathon together. I couldn't ask for a better running partner! I love this girl! It was a beautiful course out in the middle of nowhere!!! We enjoyed it and especially looked forward to our cheering crew (the kids) every three miles where we'd give them high fives. (We obviously weren't too worried about crossing the finish line first!!)

Here is my AWESOME husband who supports all the running I do. He was always ready with water or gel packs! He's the best!

Finish Line!!!! Notice who is finishing with us - our cute kids!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

On Saturday we had a fun day. We started out doing a service project at a graveyard close to our house. We spent the morning raking and cleaning it up. Then we borrowed our friend's canoe and went canoing. Lucy was, of course, a bit nervous but Ethan enjoyed it and we had no intention of putting wiggly Lucas in the canoe but he INSISTED and actually sat pretty still while out in the water.

Lucas and Grandma
Lucas warmed up to Grandma as soon as they arrived which was amazing because he is a mamma's boy and won't leave my side. However, he bonded with grandma right away!!

Amy and Grandpa out with Lucy and Ethan

Lucas, Amy, Lucy, Ethan, and Andy

Grandpa

Welcom Grandma and Grandpa "C"!

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit us for Memorial Day weekend. We had lots of fun and stayed busy. The kids loved having them here and being spoiled with LOTS of attention!!! As soon as we picked up my parents we headed to Navy Pier in Chicago to ride the ferris wheel and go to the Children's museum.

We LOVE Chicago!!

Lucas and Grandpa on the ferris wheel

Something to think about

I recently finished reading both of these books. I started with A thousand splendid suns. I started the book not knowing what it was about. By the end of the book I was in disbelief that women could be treated so cruelly! I just finished the Princess book last night and can't seem to quit thinking about it. I can't understand how in the late 1900's and still today this kind of treatment toward women is allowed!! How can it be allowed? I keep thinking there must be something I could do - but not sure what. Although I feel like I can't help I do keep thinking about the fact that I am FREE to do what I want and when I want. I am educated. I got to choose who I married. I can state my opinion without fear of being stoned to death. I don't live in fear of my husband and and other men. I am FREE. I think of freedom as a right - something everyone is or should be granted but am reminded everyone doesn't enjoy the freedoms we do. Sometimes when I think life is hard or not fair or I'm bugged because the kids are getting on my nerves hopefully I will remember these books and realize life just isn't that bad for me. All day today I have felt that because we have these great freedoms we better not sit around and be idle. We better enjoy these freedoms and do GOOD things with our lives. Some people would give anything to live like we do. If you are looking for a good uplifting book these are not the books for you. They are a bit depressing and unfortunately there is no happy ending. The stories in these books are tragic. However, they were eye opening and reminded me of the good life I have and like we've heard often "where much is given much is required".

Time out for Women!

I am getting caught up on my blog (once again!) so, this happened several weeks ago but it was so much fun I couldn't NOT post it. I went with a bunch of friends to stay the night in Chicago and attend Time out for Women. It was so uplifting and rejuvenating. I loved every minute of it. I think every woman could benefit from Time Out for Women on a yearly basis. I absolutely loved it. Not to mention I was with some really fun friends. We had some pretty good laughs throughout the course of the weekend. Thank goodness for a WONDERFUL WONDERFUL husband who was encouraging of a fun get away for myself and willing to be with the kids all weekend. It was just what I needed!!

Wacky Hair Day

Lucy thought it was funny her school was having "wacky hair day" but she sure loved going with crazy hair!!

Better Late than Never!!

Happy VERY VERY Late Birthday to Ethan who turned 4 in February!! I had my birthday then 2 days later we had his party and one day later I got REALLY sick. It took 2 weeks to get better so I never blogged his b-day. We had a fun spider man party.

He loved the cake I made for him

We played lots fun games. We made a giant web throughout our house for one of the games. Here is Ethan standing in part of it.
Here is the birthday boy with all os his friends!! It was a big group for a small house!! We survived and although it was tons of fun Andy and I both let out a sigh of relief when it was over!!

I'm declaring myself a non-sewer!!

We have lots of remnants of fabric and Lucy has been eying it for a while. She finally asked me to teach her to sew. So, I had fun teaching her. She mad a very cute sleeping bag for her baby doll. However, I have declared myself a non-sewer. I am glad to have a machine and glad to know how to do some basic sewing but other than that I have decided I don't sew. I guess I'm declaring it so i don't have to feel guilty for hardly ever using it. Sewing stresses me out more than anything. If I don't cut exactly right or sew a bit off chances of having a good final product aren't good and then all my time is wasted. Let's face it - i should have declared myself a non-sewer the day I was doing a Young Woman project and sewed the shoulders to the waist!! I think that was a pretty big sign!! ( I will admit that I have been saving stacks of jeans to make a pic-nic blanket. So, I am in the middle of making one but that will probably be my last major project for a while!)

Maybe it wasn't such a great lesson after all!!

Funny story!! I was in charge of sharing time. I put a lot of effort into preparing a lesson on the atonement and repentance. I used an idea i saw on line. I won't go into all the details but I started by showing a dirty plate and comparing it to sin and how we can be clean (like the clean plate) when we repent. Anyway, I'm all about visuals so thought this would be a great idea to use. So, at dinner tonight Andy asked the kids what they learned at church. Lucy replied, "We learned that Jesus doesn't like us to have dirty dishes." Oh my!!! So much for my great lesson!!

Friday night sleepovers

We have a really small tent and Lucy and Ethan enjoy setting it up in Lucy's room and sleeping in it on Friday nights. It's really cute! They think it's really cool to turn off all the lights and read books with their flashlights until we come in and tell them lights out. They have so much fun together.

Good Bye to Andy's Family table!

We've been very busy doing lots of projects, cleaning out, and de-cluttering. Andy was sad to say goodbye to the table that has been in his family for as long as he can remember. We used it when we were first married. We had to take a picture before getting rid of it. Here's to Andy's table!!

When Andy was a kid he stuck a marble in the table and look - it's still there!

The kids LOVED helping Andy paint our storage room.

Oh what do you do in the winter time when all the world is white?!?!?

Each year I look forward to the winter, the first snow, sledding....but then I hit that point where I can't stand anymore snow. I have already hit that point and unfortunately we still have a LOT more snow in the near future!!! Hard to believe that last year at this time we were out swimming each day in Brazil!!! Where is the sun? So, here is a glimpse of what we do to entertain ourselves in these long Michigan winters!!

Andy has always been a fan of icicles. Once in provo he insisted on keeping a giant icicle in our freezer! Hmmmm. No room this year but nice try!!
Ethan is soooo desperate to play outside he insisted on riding his bike on our icy driveway. He put his snow pants and everything on just to go out and "ride" his bike. He was a bit frustrated because the wheels weren't working right. They just kept spinning!! I wonder why?!?!?

Everyday I smile as i watch Lucy get on the bus. She is so weighed down with her snow pants, boots, gloves, hat, and her giant backpack. She seems so little climbing onto this giant bus!
We do a lot of this during the winter. Amazing how many different cities you can build out of the same blocks and roads. It's different everytime!
The wheat bucket seems to come out a lot in the winter. It's a pretty good mess but keeps EVERYONE occupied for long periods of time. Even Lucas loves it and amazingly doesn't put it in his mouth!!

Our little reader!

Lucy has been going to young 5's this year. It's a pre-K class our school district offers. It has been the best thing for Lucy. She has started reading a lot lately. One day we went to the library. We hadn't had time to read the books yet and she called me over and started reading a book she had never seen before. It was very exciting. Now she checks out books and she reads them to us. She is really good at sounding out words and even attempts to spell her own words. I guess it's really exciting because she is our first child so it's a new experience for us. We have a child who can read!!! Go Lucy!!

I chopped my hair!

Well, I finally got sick of long hair - well long for me - and I chopped my hair. I love it and it only takes a few minutes to do.

Farewell to our prophet

It was last Sunday that I found out President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away. It was a bittersweet time. He was loved by so many. He has lived a GREAT life and influenced so many people. He dedicated his life to the Lord and had endless energy. Although it's sad, it is also so sweet knowing he has been reunited with his wife and continues to serve the Lord even still! I enjoyed his funeral and all of the special clips they had about him following the funeral. He did so much good in his lifetime and touched many lives. I knew he had done a lot in his life but learned a lot about him yesterday during and after his funeral service. It makes me want to be a better person. It was pretty interesting to see how little media coverage he got outside of Utah. It's just so interesting - here is a prophet of God who passed away - a PROPHET of GOD - and yet there was no coverage. They are still talking about Heath Ledger (an actor who died several weeks ago) but hardly any mention of the death of a prophet of God. It is sad to me but not too surprising. What a blessing to have prophets on earth today. I will always be grateful for these great men who serve us. I will always be grateful for the impact President Hinckley had in my life. He will be missed!