my 8 month old

She sings....loud

She has 2 teeth

She crawls a little bit at a time

Sleeping 11hrs at night

Loves to eat

Reaches for everything mommy has

Scares easily

Plays with my hair

Sits in shopping carts like a big girl

Loves to go on walks

memorial day

On Saturday we went to Salina to visit with Carl and go to Roene's grave. It was the first time we brought Maggie there. It was such a beautiful day!

and while the boys were changing the oil in the car, we had play time on the lawn.

Then we spent the rest of the weekend in PG celebrating mom's birthday and a day off with the fam. Maggie experience her first time in a movie theatre. She surprisingly did well. For the first 20 min she just sat and stared at the big screen and then fell asleep for the last 2 hours (with the help of me covering her ears).

I told Asher we celebrate memorial day to remember those that have died and soldiers. He asked me what soldiers are. " They're boys and girls who fight to keep us safe where we live" Thank you for those soldiers fighting to keep us safe!

makeover

Before:

After: (a foot of hair)

I've been wanting to do this for a while now and I was so excited for days! Thanks cas! I love love love it!

a night out

Last Friday was a much needed night out with our good pals the Poulson's!

Brielle and Maggie are just 2 days apart! It was so fun watching them play together. They sure did get a lot of attention and comments about their "cuteness" while we were out.

Nolan and Caden are only 4 days apart! Our girls are bound to be best friends. Wouldn't you say they both look just like their daddy's??

Then it was off for our first bowling trip (with mags that is). The girls were mesmerized!

It's nice to have another mom that has a baby the same age as yours so when your kid is fussy they know how you feel. Thanks Jani!

It was a late night in jammies for this little one.

Thanks for the fun night out guys!

rainy days

It's crazy how fast an hour can go by on a

rainy day snuggled on a bed.

yoga anyone?

Recently Maggie has quite the moves! She could be a yoga instructor.

Downward Dog

she does this all on her own. i don't put her like that.

Plank

Cobra

Table Top

All that work and the rolls are still there!!

I love her little tooth!

i got my new lens (50mm) today for mother's day and i absolutely love it, if you can't tell. Now i just need to learn how to work it to the fullest! Trial and error :)

goldilocks

Well, we did it! We accomplished 60 miles together on the Goldilocks bike ride!

It was a beautiful day full of ups and downs. Tires blowing out, headwinds, cramps, sunburns, sore necks and (most of all for me) being away from Mags for the longest ever (9 hrs!!). But it felt so good after 4 hours of riding, dancing while biking, and more than 3000 calories burned to arrive at the finish line!! So glad I had my mom and sistas there to celebrate. Couldn't have done it without you!!!!!!!

my mothers

With mother's day coming up in a few days I've been thinking a lot about my mothers.

My mom has always been a wonderful mom! She is, to me, the ideal mom. Now I could go on and on about my mom, but here are a few things I love about her.

I never realized how much my mom actually did until I became a wife and a mother myself. My mom was so good to have dinner for our family, clean the kitchen, pick up after our silly messes, do the laundry, take out the trash, use her money to give to us for wants etc etc. It's hard to always have to dishes done and know what to fix for dinner. Seems simple, right?? harder than it looks, but she did it!

I'm grateful for my mom's testimony. She is always willing to share it in letters or notes. It's exciting talking to my mom about the scriptures or what we know to be true. I loved having my mom in Young Women's a few times while growing up to see her example. She truly did strive to bring our family together for prayer or scripture study. I could tell it was important to her.

Over the last few years I feel like I have become closer to my mom. She is more than my mother. She is my best friend. It's been hard being away from her. Now I know we are only an hour and 20 minutes away, but I wish we were neighbors. I love how she gets excited when we come to visit. I hate driving home after being with my family. I'm grateful to have my own little family with Caden and Mags, don't get me wrong, but there is just something about being close to your mom.

I know she loves me when she drives to our house just to visit for a few hours, and by slowing down on our bike ride to be close to me during a steep hill, by opening up her day to do my hair and visit when I come down, by giving me advice and assuring me I'm being a good mother.

I love you Mom!

Four years ago on May 9 I lost my second mother. I only met Roene a handful of times before she past away suddenly a few months before our wedding, but I know she would have been more like my second mother than a "mother-in-law". I have heard countless stories from Caden and family about how wonderful she was, but I want to share just a few of the memories I have of her that describe the type of mother she was and would have been to me.

A few days after Caden and I got engaged, she was so excited! She thanked me for saying yes to him (which made me laugh), and we started talking about wedding plans. She wanted me to try on her wedding dress. Even though it was hitting me six inches above the floor, she was thrilled with excitement to see me in it. "Carl! Carl! do you see her! I can't believe I was that skinny. It looks so pretty!! Carl, do you see?" She then told me things about her life and advice to a happy marriage.

One night, Caden and I were coming home from a weekend in St. George right after our proposal. We got to his house at probably 2 am, and there was Roene in her teal nightgown waiting up for us, thankful we were home safe.

Around easter time I remember her giving me an easter basket, lotion and earrings. "I'm so excited to have a girl to buy stuff for!" she told me. (Caden being an only child)

I loved the way she would call Caden everyday, literally EVERYday, when we were at snow college. I just know that she would have treated me like a daughter and would have called almost EVERYday.

She loved to be silly and make people happy. I could tell one day as I came to visit Caden. She was giggling and laughing with her sisters making christmas chocolates. She had a laugh that was contagious.

She was so excited to have grandkids. She told me she wanted a dozen!

I wish she was here to see Maggie. I wonder what she would do, what she would say, how things would be different, but I'm grateful for her love and example for the short time I knew her.

I'm so lucky to have wonderful mothers! I hope I can be a good mother just like they are.