Park City, UT

My sister Megan and her husband Roger

Jon and Me

My Mom

My sister Briar, Baby Eden and Ben

My sister Josie's husband Justin and little Dylan

My brother Jake and Hailey

4th of July

We just returned from a week long family vacation to Utah for the 4th of July.  It was so fun to see my mom, my 3 sisters and brother and their families.  Quite the family reunion.  Elle and Gwen had the time of their lives.  I told Jon one night that I missed Elle because I rarely saw her.  She was always running around with one of her cousins.  We had fun activities for the kids planned each day.  My sister Briar graciously let ALL of us go to her house where we rented a huge bouncy waterslide for the day.  This was especially nice of her considering the fact that she had her third little girl, Eden, just 3 weeks ago!!  Baby Eden is the cutest little thing.  Any free moment Elle had, she would ask to hold her.  On the morning of the 4th, we were all registered to run the Provo 10K.  The night before, I fell down the stairs and broke 2 of my toes. I was soo sad!  I was out but everyone else was in!  I didn't get photos, except of Jon and my sister Josie after they finished the race, because I was in charge of walking all 11 grandkids (with my 2 broken toes) from the hotel to our saved portion of curb so we could watch the Provo Parade. Elle and Gwen loved the parade.  Their favorite floats were the ones that had "royalty" on them.  Elle would yell, "The fairies are coming"!  I got a cute picture of one of the "fairies" waving to Gwen.  That night we headed up to the golf course in Park City where we had a pic-nic and the kids played.  The fireworks are set off at the base of the mountain.  It was amazing.  A perfect day, if I do say so myself.  The last night was spent with everyone at my moms for pizza and the #1 hit...a blow-up pool.  Why do we try so hard to please these kids when a $4 blow-up pool makes them soo happy?!  Jon and I drove home which was a LONG trip with two toddlers!  We had to make lots of stops to get their wiggles out.  At each stop, I had Elle and Gwen run up and down the sidewalk, sing me songs, and wiggle to their hearts content.  At the Dairy Queen, I came out and Jon and Elle were hiding in the bushes and bombarded me with the little "popper" firecrackers.  It was pretty funny.  I'd say we had a fabulous week, for sure.  I know it's cliche' but it really is just fun to be together.  I miss everyone already.  Love you guys! XO

It's true...

I sure love this guy.

What A Treat

Grampie Dune and Nana came for dinner tonight to celebrate both of their birthdays.  It's always so fun to get together.  Elle spent forever coloring a card and we gave them their gifts. Nana got her favorite smelling soap called "Favorito" and Grampie Dune got his favorite chocolates (bordeaux).  Happy Birthday!

Pool Days

My little girls love the water.  If we could be at a pool or at the beach from sun up to sun down, they would be happy (as long as Gwenners gets a nap in there somewhere).  Gwen loves for me to hold her tight against me and spin with her little legs making the water splash.  Elle on the other hand is a much more demanding customer.  She loves the "dolphin" and begs me to do it with her everytime we are at a pool.  She hops on my back, holds her little hands tightly around my neck and we swim around with her bobbing up and down on my back.  She LOVES it.  Every hour or so the pool does a safety break where everyone has to get out of the pool for 10 minutes.  Well, to preface this it must be known that I don't have hearing in my right ear.  That whole situation is a story for another time but I was in the pool doing "dolphin" and did not hear the multiple requests for us to get out.  Elle is loving it and all of a sudden I look up and we are the ONLY ones in the pool.  All of the kids and parents are out of the pool, staring and waiting for us to get out.  I was dying (laughing).  Elle thought it was so much fun that she didn't want to inform me of the pool evacuation.   Needless to say I said a loud, "sorry!" to everyone at the pool and gracefully "dolphined" right over to the steps and we got out.  Just thinking about it makes me laugh.  Well, I will have to be more aware of my surroundings in the future but I can't wait to take my girls on more dolphin rides this summer. 

We Heart Noggin

Elle slept-in this morning which gave me some fun time with Miss Gwen.  She loves to sit up on the stool and watch the music videos from Noggin on the computer.  I love how excited she gets each time the song changes.  She laughs, claps and dances by wiggling back and forth on the stool.  I am starting to get glimpses of her cute little personality.  Every day she seems to be so much more expressive.  I often think about how short this time is that my girls will be so little. It is a lot of work and would be so easy to wish it away.   I don't want to do that.  I want to really be present for them.  I know she won't be little forever so I want to enjoy all of the little and simple moments just like this.  I love this little girl.  

Dance

Elle couldn't sleep last night because she was so excited.  This morning was the first day of her dance class.  My friend Julie has a two week dance camp.  She teaches in her garage and has all of the neighborhood girls over to twirl and sing and of course more twirling (Elle's favorite ballet move).  Julie taught the class last summer too and Elle was in heaven.  Elle LOVES to dance.  Even when commercials come on the TV with music, she and Gwen both hop off the couch and dance.  A big thank you to Julie for loving Elle and being so sweet with her.  

Ready, Set...Summer!

Today was a perfect day at the beach.  The girls and I had so much fun.  Elle spent hours searching for sand crabs and chasing the waves in-and-out with her little friends.  I am not sure what Gwen loved more, digging with the Coke cup or waving to the train each time it passed. The girls were happy, I was happy...a perfect day.  I bet you can guess where we will be the majority of this summer.     

Happy Fathers Day

It's not Fathers Day without breakfast in bed. I remember being little and making scrambled eggs and bacon and taking breakfast to my dad in bed.  It was so much fun.  I have an amazing dad.  Really, I love him more than anything.  My hope when I was young was that someday I would be able to find someone like my dad to marry.  I wanted to give my children the gift that my dad was to me.   Well, it took a few years but when Jon and I met, not only did I fall in love, but I knew I had found someone like my dad.   So the tradition continued this morning with breakfast in bed. Elle and Gwen both helped me make the scrambled eggs and bacon.  Elle took her favorite spot up on the counter and cracked the eggs and helped stir.  Gwen just loved observing everything as I held her (all 30 kissable pounds) on my hip as I cooked.  Elle said, "mom we get to take it to daddy on the cutting board"!  The cutting board with a towel on top is extra special around here.  We sang as we walked up the stairs to deliver his special breakfast.  The girls both love their daddy so much.  Their little eyes light up whenever he comes into the room.  The sweetest thing to see is how his eyes light up just as much when he sees them.  Gwen is completely in love with her dad.  I think her favorite sound in the world is the garage door.  This sound means daddy is home.  Whenever she hears it she lights up and starts running towards the garage door while saying, "da da da da da da"!  Her little legs can't get to him fast enough.   A true daddy's girl.  Elle has a serious crush on her dad too.  I sat her down yesterday afternoon and asked her a few questions about her daddy.  Here is how our conversation went...in Elle's words.

How old is Daddy?  He is 16 years old

How much does Daddy weigh?  He weighs 14 pounds

What is Daddy's favorite food?  Chicken nugget dinos in a pan

What does Daddy smell like?  A prince (I would have to agree on this one.  He always smells so good)

Where do you like to go with Daddy? The ice cream store, Golden Spoon and 30 Flavors

What is your favorite thing to do with Dad? Play golf with him at the golf course

How does Daddy make you happy? He gives me kisses and sings me a lullaby

How much do you love Daddy?  So much the world

Name a few of your favorite things about Dad:  

He takes me to the movie theatre by myself.

He makes me feel happy.

Daddy gives the best hugs.

He makes me happy when its morning time and cooks me cereal.

He helps me do flip-flips on my bed

He makes me fly to the sky like a bird on the trampoline.

For a preschool writing exercise a few months back, Elle had to finish the sentence...

LOVE IS _________.  I think what she wrote sums up Jon completely.  

Love is Daddy.  

Happy Fathers Day to the two most amazing fathers I know... my own father and to my Jon.  

I love you both...so much the world.

Golf 101

Elle loves to play golf with Jon.  The other night I went into the garage and found another lesson in progress.  Jon put tape on the garage floor where her feet needed to be and another piece for where the ball should be.  They set up a little ABC stacking block that was the hole.  It is pretty cute to watch them interact.  Jon is so proud of her love for the sport but what I really think she loves is spending time with her daddy.  

Cheeks...

we love them around here.

(my brother took this picture of gwen last summer...i just found it and had to record it. thanks, jake!)

It's the Little Things

It's the little things in this home that make us happy.  Gwenners is now officially civilized...if you don't count the whole diaper wearing, tantrum throwing business.  Jon taught her how to eat with a fork (he is a man of many talents for sure).  The first picture is my favorite because the one-eyed-pirate look is one she sports often.  An awfully cute pirate if I do say so myself.

It's A Wrap

Today was Elle's last day of preschool.  She has absolutely loved every minute of being in Miss Marie's class.  I am so thankful to her teacher for giving Elle a happy start to her school career.  For the end of the year party, Elle and her little friends sang a few songs at the park this afternoon and then we had cupcakes and the kids played.  Elle was so excited about the performance that last night after Jon and I put her in bed, we were back in our room when  we saw a little head peek around the corner out in the hall.  Jon said, "Elle, you need to go back into your bed".  Elle then came right into our room and stated that she NEEDED to practice her songs and then she would be able to go to sleep.  She stood proudly up on our bed in her jammies and sang three of the songs that she had been practicing.  Really, it was one of the cutest things I have ever seen as her mom.  So here's to cute Elle and an amazing performance at the park this afternoon.  Hooray for preschool!