Make sure to mark your calenders! Ethan has chosen to be baptized on the 4Th of July (his birthday) at 1:00PM at the Stake Center. We would like to invite all of you to come join Ethan on his special day.
This morning I read on the Internet that Micheal Jackson the "King of Pop" passed away. Growing up I was very fascinated with Micheal Jackson. I remember getting excited every time he was on TV or when one of his songs would come on the radio. I thought he was the best dancer. When I was in elementary, I ordered a Micheal Jackson magazine from a school book order just so I could learn how to moon walk. Micheal Jackson was a great entertainer and I'll always be a fan of his work.
Today was a pretty busy day. I woke up early and went walking with my friends, took Lexie to piano, and then took all the kids to the park. After the park, Madison's friend Kyla came over to play and it made Madison so happy. Madison told me that today was the best day! Madison and Kyla had a fun time putting makeup on each other and playing outside on the trampoline.
We were all craving cotton candy so I decided to get the cotton candy machine out. Even with our new cotton candy bubble I still had cotton candy all over my arms, face and hair. Lexie wanted to help make some and I think she did a better job than I did. Yummy!
Lexie is always so good at helping me out with the kids. Bryson loves Lexie so much! Last night Lexie left to babysit and after she left Bryson walked around the house calling for her. He than asked me "Mom, where Lexie go?" I told him she was babysitting and he said "Oh Man!" He misses Lexie when she's not around and I think It's so cute!
Bryson kittysat our friends little kitten. He was so cute and gentle with her. Every time someone came near the kitten he would say "careful, careful" or "sh she sleeping" and then he would get very upset if Benji (our dog) tried to get near the kitten. He was a great little kittysitter!
On Fathers Day the kids and I woke up early and made Travis breakfast in bed. Lexie gave him a beautiful memory box that she made in Young Women's and all the kids gave him a book with their pictures in it. Each of the kids wrote a little note telling their dad how much they loved him along with their picture.
Bryson just went on a ride up and down our driveway, but he was happy that he had a turn.
I spent a good part of my day yesterday mowing the lawn. While I was mowing the tall weeds down the sides of my driveway, the mower ran out of gas. I put new gas in and tried to start it so I could finish and nothing. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get it to start, so I gave up and thought I would try to get all the weeds cleaned up in the morning. This morning I spent a good hour trying to get my lawn mower started. Then I asked Travis to come out and start if for me. He always starts our lawn mower when I have a hard time getting it started. When he went out to start it, he pulled and pulled and nothing. He told me that he thought it was broken and he needed to take it apart and try to fix it after work. I called my mom telling her how frustrated I was about my lawn mower. I talked to her for awhile and at the end of our conversation she told me to pray for help with my lawn mower. I laughed and then we said goodbye to each other. I thought about what my mom said and decided I would pray. After saying my prayer I went right out pulled the string to start my lawn mower and it started right up. I'm a little sad that I needed to be reminded to pray. I think that when I was a child it was easier to pray for help with little things. Like Praying when a shoe was lost or when I was feeling scared or sad. I guess that sometimes it's hard to remember to pray for little things as we get older. I know that Heavenly Father is always there for us and that he hears and answers our prayers no matter how small they may seem. Thanks mom, for reminding me to pray. I love you!
I just wanted to post our trip to Cancun so I can have it in my book. We went In Aug. of 2001 and I was seven months pregnant with Madison. This was the prettiest place I have ever been!
This is my favorite picture! Travis took it to remember how beautiful our view was. This picture looks just like a post card.
Here I am relaxing on the beach.
Travis is always writing me love letters in the sand.
We took a tour of Chitzen Itza and on the way our tour bus caught on fire.We ended up waiting in this cute little village for our new bus. The people there live in these small huts and sleep in hammocks. The kids there tried to sell everyone fruit and statues they carved from wood. Can you tell from my frizzy hair how humid it was? 
We swam in a beautiful fresh water spring to cool off after being in the heat. 
Here we are at the ruins in Chitzen Itza . I climbed the steep stairs of the pyramid and was a little scared that I was going to fall. I wonder how many people have hurt themselves or even died trying to climb those steep stairs.
Bryson didn't start watching movies until October of last year. His first favorite movie was Toy Story. He watched that movie all day long and everyone was so sick of it. Then soon after that he watched James in The Giant Peach and watched that for a month or two. Then back to Toy Story one and Two. Now his two favorite movies to watch are Happy Feet and Finding Nemo. It's so cute to hear him ask to watch Happy Feet. I know that too much TV is bad and I'm a bad mom for letting him watch them so much, but I can get so much done in my house when Bryson is happy and watching his movies.
Travis got a new motorcycle on Saturday and we are both are so excited. I have been driving Travis to and from work for the past year or so, because we only have the van. Tom (our furniture store manager) needed a sectional so he traded us his bike for one. Now I don't have to drive Travis around and we can save money at the same time. When Travis and I were dating he always had a bike and I loved riding around on the back of it. He even sold his bullet bike to buy my wedding ring. I'm excited to ride on the back of his new motorcycle with the wind in my hair just like when I was younger.
This is a picture of last nights sunset. They have been really pretty lately !
Allison fell asleep the other night with Benji by her side. What a cutie!
On Allison's last day of school, they had a Hawaiian party and all the students were suppose to dress up. I thought she looked so cute all dressed up like a little Hawaiian girl. Allison was a little embarrassed to wear the flowered top to school but she did it. I can't believe my little Allison will be in the fourth grade next year. I feel so old! Lexie will be in middle school and Maddy will be in first grade. I will only have one child at home while everyone is in school. Crazy!
Yesterday in Primary we talked about Faith. I think I really needed to be reminded to have faith. We must exercise faith to take on life’s challenges and changes. It's how we learn and progress. Life’s challenges, can provide opportunities for us to grow as we exercise our agency in making righteous decisions. President Thomas S. Monson has counseled us that “faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other” In Moroni we read that “without faith there cannot be any hope” (Moroni 7:42). This is so true and I never really thought about it until yesterday. We can't have faith and doubt at the same time. Faith is a principle of action and power. Whenever we work toward a worthy goal, we exercise faith. We show our hope for something that we cannot yet see. I have faith that if we do the very best we can and follow Heavenly Father in faith, we will be happy and he will bless our lives.
Bryson has always loved the nursery rhyme This little Piggy. I have done this rhyme to his toes since he was a newborn baby. Bryson is two years old and still loves me to do This Little Piggy to him. When he's upset I just have to start doing the piggy rhyme and he's laughing and happy. I have a different way of saying it than most people.
This little piggy went to the market.
This little piggy stayed home.
This little piggy had roast beef.
This little piggy had none.
This little piggy said " Give me some roast beef!"
Where's the beef?
At the end of this rhyme Bryson laughs and laughs.
I will be sad when he grows out of This Little Piggy!
I love, love, love cookies! I have been craving Grandma's Fudge Chocolate Chip cookies lately. I can't seem to get enough of them. These soft, melt in your mouth cookies are the best! Travis always picks some up for me when he's out. What a sweetie! I use to eat Grandma's cookies when I was in High School and I find myself craving them all the time. I'm pretty sure Grandma's cookies were much bigger back when I was younger. It seems like everything is smaller and more expensive. So sad! All this cookie talk is making me hungry, gotta go and have a cookie!
For Mothers Day Travis surprised me with Photoshop Elements 7. This is a program I had been wanting for a long time. I have some friends who use this or programs like it for their photos and their pictures always look amazing. I was told that if I wanted to be a good photographer I needed to learn to work with Photoshop. I got Photoshop Elements 7 because It had great reviews and people said that it's very user friendly. When I got It I was so excited and then my excitement turned to frustration when I tried to use it. I went and bought a book for Dummies at Barnes and Noble hoping it would help, but I still was lost. I have been playing around on Photoshop trying to figure it out. I have learned a few things and my good friend Holly gave me some pointers that really helped. The pictures below are some of the pictures I played with. I hope that I can figure out how to use this program and have amazing pictures like my friends.
The last few nights, my Allison has been leaving little notes on my pillow. It makes me so happy after a long hard day of feeling unappreciated, to go in and see little love notes left for me by my girl. I love my kids so very much and am thankful for each and every one of them. I'm so blessed!
