Bye-bye turtle

On Joey's way home from a meeting a couple of Saturdays ago, he found a teeny turtle walking across the road in our subdivision. Being the nice guy he is, he scooped it up(without touching it-we don't want Salmonella over here) into a box in his car and brought the little guy home. The kids were so excited! They wanted to keep him of course, but we know better than that. We had him as our "pet" for maybe half an hour that Saturday. Then we took the kids to a nearby park with a lake and lots of space so that we could release him there. We found the little guy an awesome new home and I know he was happy. I saw him smile, thats how I know:)

Go turtle go!

I even heard a tiny, "Thank you!' as he slid into the lake and swam away. Thats what I told the girls. They just laughed. Why don't they ever believe me? Oh, thats right, I'm silly. After we said our goodbyes, we let the kids play at the play area nearby. You can't take your kids near a park and not let them play, right?

Aubrey had fun hanging around.

Ella smiled pretty.

And Cali tasted the sweet morning air on the tip of her tongue.It was a nice Saturday morning. Thanks to a little turtle.

Magna Doodle Messages

We are constantly finding the sweetest messages and funniest pictures on the various magna doodles all over the house. Here are two of my latest favorites. Both by Miss Aubrey...


Aubrey put this beside Ella's bed at night so that when she woke up Sunday morning, she would see it. If you can't read it, it says, "Dear Ella, I hope you have a wonderful day at church and I want you to know that I'm sorry about the lego thing. Love you! Aubrey" They had gotten in an argument earlier that day over legos and I just thought it was so sweet that she apologized on the magna doodle and left Ella such a sweet note to read in the morning. And I LOVE how she referred to their dispute as the "lego thing." :)

And this one is just amazing. Aubrey taught herself the 13th Article of Faith and wrote it by memory on the magna doodle. It is pretty darn close to perfect. Remember, she is in the first grade-its incredible. One day I showed the girls where to find the Articles of Faith(a set of 13 basic beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) in the scriptures and she has been studying them on her own with Ella. Many mornings I wake up to find them looking through their scriptures together on Ella's bed. And one morning, I woke up and found Aubrey writing away on the magna doodle and this is what she was writing, without her scriptures in hand...

Unbelievable-Aubrey, you rock! I want to be like you when I grow up:) Not only are you smart, you have such a strong desire to do good, to teach others, and set a great example to not only your sisters, but to your Daddy and I. Keep learning the Articles of Faith-you have already conquered the 13th which is the hardest! We love you.

For anyone interested in reading all of the Articles of Faith, click here. And for anyone interested in learning more about our church and our beliefs, click here!

Grateful

I'm just thinking tonight about how grateful I am to be a mom and to have the three beautiful and amazing daughters I have. I have been truly blessed with 3 healthy and happy children. However, Joey and I have suffered losses. I have to admit we're going through a trial right now, our 4th miscarriage in our marriage. This makes more miscarriages than normal pregnancies, which I admit is a bit unsettling to me. And this, as most of you know, is our second one within the year:( Not cool, but I'll be okay.

I had debated blogging about it for a few reasons, one of them being I don't want to be a downer. The other reason is that I don't want people to think I'm fishing for "I'm sorrys" and pity and stuff like that(though any sweet comments you want to leave I wouldn't mind:) Gosh, I'm selfish! :) But the real reason is that this is my online public journal of sorts and I really feel that I need to write my feelings down. Its for me and its for anyone else who has experienced this. Its also for others that haven't. I think its good to share experiences, the good AND the bad. Sometimes I get comments from people in person or on the blog that make me feel like they think our life is pretty close to perfect(I mean I do believe I have a wonderful life, but its not just what you see here!). Well, here is the proof that it isn't. I usually only put the "good stuff" in life on the blog because thats what I try to focus on. When I sit to do a post, it helps me to see the wonderful things in my life and I'm able to share them with you. I mean who wants to hear about the time I lost my temper with the kids or the day I had a migraine or the day when I just wanted to just stay in bed and do absolutely nothing? The plain truth is, life unfortunately isn't perfect. At the ward breakfast I just blogged about, I honestly wasn't feeling too great that morning and I already had a feeling I would miscarry soon(You couldn't tell that from my post though because posts only tell the story you want to tell. Thats the beauty of blogging. You can leave out the crappy stuff!)But I acted like everything was fine. Thats what you do sometimes. You put on a front and act. I'm good at joking to try to make myself feel better sometimes. I don't like to show my true feelings outwardly. I don't want to make people uncomfortable. Anyways, we did have a good time at the ward activity, but when we got home, I was sad. I knew the miscarriage was coming. And the rest of the day wasn't spectacular. I was a worried mess. And my feelings and instincts were right, I had reason to worry. Because just two days later(last night), I started to miscarry.

I'm not going to say its an easy thing to go through-its not. I'm not going to sugar-coat it and say I haven't cried and that I'm totally fine. It makes you sad, it makes you depressed, it makes you question things you may have done wrong to cause it(even though deep down you know its not your fault, you can't help thinking about every little thing you did the week prior), it makes you mad, it makes you cry, it even makes you laugh so hard at something that all of the sudden you are crying, but there are other things too...they aren't all bad. A loss like this helps you realize even more what a precious gift a child is. It helps you to look at your children in a new way and hug them a little bit tighter. It gives you more empathy and understanding to others who have suffered in the same way. It helps you learn to lean on others. It draws you closer to your spouse as you lean upon each other. It helps you to become more grateful. It helps you realize how there is so much good in people when so many people reach out to you to help. And most of all, it teaches you to rely on the Lord. If we didn't have trials, then we wouldn't learn and grow. Our trials make us stronger. I truly believe that.

I'm sad today as I was really hoping this pregnancy would make it, but I have faith that we will have a child when the time is right. I know we'll get through this and I know the Lord has a plan for me and our family's growth. We just need to be patient, right? I'll end with just saying again that I'm grateful. As hard as it may seem to say that right now, I really am. I'm not saying I'm not sad and that this week hasn't been hard, but I am grateful for the wonderful things in my life. Despite this setback, I'm still focused on the tremendous blessings Joey and I have in our marriage. Namely: Aubrey, Ella & Cali. Though one door closes, I know another will open.

Memorial Day Weekend Part 3: Ward Breakfast

Our ward(congregation at church) has an annual 5K Fun Run and Breakfast each Memorial Day. It is such a fun tradition. While we didn't do the Fun Run this year, we definitely enjoyed the yummy pancake breakfast, playtime, and socializing with friends in the ward. We had a flag ceremony and one of the county/city judges who is in our ward spoke to us about freedom and his experiences flying fighter jets and in going to war. It was a great speech and very thought provoking. I am so grateful to be an American and for those who have fought and those who are still fighting for our freedom. I'm grateful we have this holiday to reflect on the sacrifices others have made for us. We too often forget. Thank you to all of our veterans and current military men and women!

Presenting. . .the fam. Thanks Jennie for taking this picture for us.

The man catching a football with style.

Cali blowing some bubbles. She is at that fun "bubbles!" age. She can't get enough.

Aubrey kicking around a soccer ball with a friend. She was kicking it with one of the older girls and felt quite cool:)

You can't see it, but Aubrey is behind Cali following her up the playscape. She kept a good eye on her. She is such a great big sis.
And Ella fell off the monkey bars:( Not too happy.
But I managed to get at least one smile:) And no, I didn't take these picture immediately after her fall. I'm not that mean! We gave her lots of hugs and kisses,
and then I tried to make her laugh for a picture. It worked and she was off playing again in no time.

It was a wonderful morning full of food, fun & friends. Thanks to those that helped put it together!

And thats the end of my Memorial Day weekend posts. Phew! :) It was a fun-filled family weekend. Hope y'all enjoyed yours too.

Memorial Day Weekend Part 2: Pool

The community pool opened up this past weekend-WOOHOO! Let summer begin.

Memorial Day Weekend Part 1:Campout

We decided to venture beyond the living room and test out our new family tent at a nearby camping area this weekend. We had lots of fun doing campy things: chillaxin, relaxin, hot doggin, smorin, firefly catchin, glowstickin, tentin, the works:)

Heres some chillaxin.

And one studly man settin up the tent.


What a beaute.

Hot doggin.

Ella smilin when she sees her hot dog browning.

Cali & her sippy. Can't leave home without it.

Aubrey heard a strange sound(it alarmed me too actually). Joey said it was a frog, but it sounded more like a Yetti to me. Joey ended up being right though.

Ella was a great tent setter upper. She is so happy when she is helping(just like the song:)

Time for the flames to begin. Joey is quite the outdoorsy dude-I'm glad he was a Boy Scout. He knows a ton of stuff I don't when it comes to camping. I used to think Boy Scouts were for losers(sorry I'm just admitting what I thought as a teen). But now I know its the real deal and my future son(s) better be Eagle Scouts! I would totally die in the wilderness if I didn't have my man.

Smorin.
Cali using Aubrey's binoculars. Backwards.

Glow stick fun. See how I wrote "Mom." I'm super talented. Don't be jealous.

Me and the girls on our way back from the nasty restrooms. That was our "hike" for the day:)
All in all, it was a great time. Cali was a real joy in the tent at night-she ran around it laughing and tickling people and rolling around for about 2 hours before finally tuckering out. That was fun:) Needless to say, I took a long nap the next day. . .next time we will bring a pack n play so she is caged. The other kink in the plan was the bathroom situation. We hadn't really thought about having the kids use the restroom before going to bed. We were having so much fun with everything that when the tent was set up the kids all ran inside and got in their sleeping bags ready to sleep under the stars. We turned out the lights and then all of the sudden someone said they had to pee. Oopsie. Forgot about that. So, in the dark, we had to haul everyone up the hill to empty bladders before bed. Good times:) Other than that, it was a perfect little campout. The kids had the best time and kept thanking us over and over the next day for taking them camping. It was a memory to treasure.

Happy Birthday to one of my best friends

My mom hits the big 35 this year-go Mom! :) Woohoo!

My mom is seriously one of the cutest sweetest most fun people in the world. I have always felt so lucky to call her my Mama. She has been an amazing mother and a wonderful friend to me my whole life. I can't brag about her enough! I love her so much.

I just had to find a few "fun" pictures of her to post this year on her special day. Hope you don't mind Mom! :) Here she is with me up past midnight at The Cheesecake Factory on their dollar slice night. Thats how cool she is. No hour is too late for cheap slices of heaven.

She is also cool enough to read the Twilight books, wear the Twilight gear, and even contribute to a Twilight blog. Its been so fun to share the Twilight craze! :)
And this is a "fun" picture of my mom doing one of the things she does best, facial expressions:) Here she is with the girls acting very scared of the ginormous shark that is about to devour them.

And another prime example of her expressions.....she is even willing to join in on the crazy silliness that we call "family" :) My Mom knows how to roll with the best of em.

And then I have to end with a sweet picture. My mom is not only a wonderful and fun mother and friend, but an awesome Grandma. My girls love her dearly. We all do!!!

Mom, we all love you so much and hope you have had a wonderful day! We can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks-we are counting down the days! Happy Birthday to my young fun spunky Mama! I know you aren't feelin as young as you used to be, but you still got it goin on! So work it like you own it!

Ella's preschool graduation

Ella is officially a graduate of Little Saints Preschool! We are so proud of you Ella! You did such a wonderful job this year. You are a great friend, an excellent student, fast learner, and have such a sweet little spirit. We couldn't be more proud of you! Here are pictures and video from yesterday's graduation. . .(There is one more video of the kids singing during their program that is giving me problems uploading. I will hopefully be able to upload it later in a separate post. It is just so so cute.)

Ella waiting for her name to be called. . .

Receiving her Preschool Diploma.

Right before the kids started their program. Ella is looking straight at me and looks a little nervosu:) Also,a sidenote, I'm obviously not good with my camera indoors yet. I need to read the manual and/or ask my hubby about it:) Pictures were either blurry or too dim with red eye. Arggg.

Saying goodbye to Ms. Stephanie. She was the perfect teacher for Ella this year. We loved her! Ella is happy knowing that we will still be seeing her though-she lives nearby and her kids go to the same school that Ella will be attending next year. And hopefully her daughter(Ella's age) and Ella will get to have a playdate or two this summer!

Ella and two of her favorite classmates, Jacob & Dax.

Afterwards, we celebrated with lunch at Peter Piper. Here is Ella beaming while holding her tootsie roll prize(only cost 4 tokens:) She HAD to play this crane game and you would've thought she won the lottery when she won this teeny tootsie.

Aw man! Didn't win this one.

Look out! Aubrey's behind the wheel!

And here is Cali freaking out when someone put a token in the car. She didn't like it moving, only still.

Back at home, holding her diploma proudly.

It was a fun afternoon! And yes, Aubrey should've been at school. We bust her out for special occasions. Because we're cool parents:)