Mother's Day!

This was seriously the BEST Mother's Day I have ever had. It was absolutely wonderful! It started out Friday with Marcus taking me out. His brother Zac was in town so he stayed with our sweet little babies! Thanks Zac! We have been meaning to do regular date nights but things come up and babysitters fall through so needless to say it had been a while since the 2 of us got out together ALONE. I have been bugging Marcus about taking me to sushi cause he goes with his work and I miss out :( so he took me for yummy, yummy sushi at Tokyo in Lehi and for ice cream after (sushi and ice cream... it doesn't get much better than that)! It was absolutely lovely! We had the BEST time together! I sure love my man!

On Saturday, Marcus and Zac went to spend the day with their brother Dan so I took the kids to my mom's house. It was such an enjoyable day. The kids just love her house and stayed so entertained. It gave us the day to just enjoy being together, talking, and watching the kids. I love my dear mother! She is so amazing! She has taught me so much and always been there! I couldn't have had a better example and I hope that one day I can be the kind of angel mother she has been.

Marcus's parents have been in town the past week visiting with us and his grandparents, so on Sunday we decided to have everyone over to enjoy Mother's Day together. It started out with a phone call from Marcus's brother Matt who is serving a mission in Africa and then we headed off to church. I loved church this week! Josie sang up in front with the other Primary kids for the first time. It was so sweet. And the kids were actually pretty decent so I got to listen to most of the talks. It felt so nice and I was so touched by so many of the things that were said. It made me realize how important the calling of mother is and that it is worth any and all of the sacrifices that come with it. And also, that I am doing a good job! I am certainly NOT perfect but I am doing the best I can and that is all that is expected of me! I think we as women are too hard on ourselves and we forget to look at all the good that we are doing. Anyway, for the third hour all the men took over the classes and all the women got to go mingle and eat cheesecake. It was wonderful. After church, I came home to a house full of family and some yummy dinner! Marcus's parents, grandparents, his aunt and uncle, his brother Dan and his family, and Zac all came over for dinner. We had a great dinner and it was so nice to all be together.

This is the first Mother's Day since we have been married that we each got to spend time with our mothers. We are both so lucky to have the mothers we do! I love my mother in law so much! She always knows how to make me laugh and feel happy. She is an amazing person with so many talents. I know Marcus is so good in large part because of his wonderful mother!
And last but not least, my day (and weekend) were so wonderful because of my 3 most precious gifts, Josie, Hayden, and Micah. Word don't express just how much I love them! They are so dear and my greatest joy and I can't imagine my life without them... each one of them bring so much joy and happiness and laughter into our home and I am so so grateful that I get to spend my days with them! Josie and Hayden went around all Sat and Sun saying Happy Mother's' Day! And I love you mommy! And you are the best mommy! And so as Josie lets me know almost everyday, I am a lucky mommy! She will tell me this all the time... You are a lucky mommy! And I will say Why? And she will say, Cause you have us kids! And that is the truth! I LOVE being a mother!

Our New Additions!

So about a week before our trip I mentioned to Marcus that maybe we should get the kids a pet for Easter or their birthdays (which aren't til the Fall). Little did I know that we would end up with not only 1 but 2 pets! And puppies at that! He LOVES cockapoopoo dogs! (yep that is what they are) and found some on KSL in Gunnison. We stopped on our way to Cali to see them with the intention of getting the little boy gray one. Well Josie didn't want a boy, she wanted a GIRL dog! The lady offered us a good deal for them both (yes I know we are suckers) and somehow we ended up paying for 2 instead of 1. On our way home we stopped and picked them up. The little boy is Rowdy (the gray one) and officially Hayden's dog and the little girl is Pixie (the sandy one) and is Josie's. The kids are absolutely loving them (and the neighbor kids too;)


I am officially nutzo too! I mean, who does that? I was NOT planning on a dog let alone 2! I have my hands full with my kids! Somehow I thought 2 would be just as easy as 1 and maybe easier since they entertain each other. For the most part that has been true. They are the sweetest little dogs and we truly are loving them. They are pretty much all potty trained now which is a plus and that is what happens when you see your kids (and hubby) get all excited over something. I couldn't help it! I am just glad that Josie is not sick of them and still so willing to help out with them. And that Hayden has learned how to hold them so they aren't getting choked anymore:)

Cali Vacation (Newport Coast)

We spent half the time at Disneyland and then we drove to Newport Coast to stay a few days there. It has a beautiful view of the ocean and was just lovely! Here we are relaxing and playing at the pool!

Silly Josie!

Micah wants to get back in the pool!

My sister Leah had her birthday while we there so here we are celebrating it a little!

Driving to church on Sunday!

Don't worry we didn't go to just a random ward... my dad has friends down there and we went with them. It happened to be there Stake Conference and Elder Jeffrey Holland was the guest speaker. It was SO nice and uplifting!

Our last day of the trip we went to this awesome aquarium! We almost got to go out on the ocean and see whales and dolphins and such but it was a bit too windy:(

Yep Josie is throwing a tantrum! Can't remember why but it looks like it was a biggie!

Thanks mom and dad and Leah, Lauren, and Stephen for helping us out and letting us join you guys! It was seriously SO much fun! Hope we get to do it again REAL soon!

Cali Vacation (Disney Land)

I know this is extremely late in coming since our vacation was almost 2 months ago but I still wanted to share. This was one of our BEST vacations ever! We had so so so much fun! We originally weren't going to try to go to Disneyland until the kids were a bit older but the kids watched a documentary on Netflix of it and got so excited about it. Then my mom invited us to go with them so we knew there wasn't a better time to go since we had some things paid for and we had the best babysitters to help us with the kids! Marcus and I were even able to sneak off a few times alone together for rides and one night left the kids with my mom and dad and stayed til midnight! Oh my... it was seriously a BLAST!


So this little pouty face was waiting in line to see Mickey Mouse. He couldn't figure out why we were just standing not seeing Mickey. We began to wonder if we should just leave cause it really was a long wait! (The only line we waited in to see anybody)
However... seeing him run up to Mickey and give him a big high five and hug made it all worth it!

Josie chose to go on a little roller coaster with her Uncle Stevie instead.

Josie loved Alice! I didn't think she cared but she wanted to stay and watch there whole little performance and was the first to meet her after it. (Just ignore Josie's hair in this picture... it had been a long day:)

Riding the Safari ride together... Lauren, my mom, Josie, Leah, and Stevie

Me with my crazy sisters! I LOVE these girls! We had so much fun! I felt like a teenager again with them!

All tired out! But at least they were getting tired having a good time!

So after we got back and I went through the pictures I have officially decided that I am awful on trips about taking the right pictures! We don't have a single family picture there! I know! EVERYONE has a picture together! I guess it is just one more reason to go back! ;) And hopefully sometime soon!

Micah 7 months

Time flies by way TOO fast! Especially when I think how fast this little guy is growing up!

Here he is just learning to sit. This was the first of January and he is 5 months.
He starts crawling right at 6 months and within a week of crawling he is pulling himself up on to things! I have a BUSY little baby on my hands now who wants to be a part of everything!

This is how I find him almost every time I go in to get him from bed or a nap!

Trouble maker!

Begging Popsicles off the kids. Hayd's eyes are hilarious!

All the hard work pays off!

Found a marker and figured out how to use it!
No doubt left down from Josie or Hayden.

He has already got this mess thing down!

Micah is the sweetest little thing in the world! He LOVES his brother and sister and daddy but he LOVE LOVES his mommy! (Can't say I blame him... I do feed him the most and get up with him in the night when no one else wants to:)
He LOVES food and will eat anything! Josie and Hayden love feeding him and so he has got to try A LOT of different foods that aren't necessarily meant for babies!
He is always on the GO now crawling around but usually just chasing me!
He is very expressive and will NOT let you ignore him... he will stare you down or make noise til you pay attention.
He is sleeping SO good in his crib in Hayd's room (what a blessing) and now usually only gets up once a night.
He hates the car and his car seat!
His bottom 2 teeth broke through on Feb. 22nd and he has learned NOT to bite his mommy's nipple now!
He is an absolute delight to have around! He makes us all smile!

Pictures from Marcus's B day