Family Reunion

In June we went to St. George for a family reunion. We had such a great time down there with my family...there were about 60 of us.

I went down a day early to help my dad get the house ready. It was fun to have the house to ourselves for a day to swim and watch movies and spend time with my dad. I took the kids up to Dixie rock for some photos.

The kids took a bubble bath together in Grandpa's giant tub!
Out to the pool!

The girls and their cousin Abby eating chips by the pool. Such big girls.

We went on a family hike on my late Grandfather's favorite hiking trail. Everyone chose a rock to contribute to a little monument we made in his remembrance. Everyone said something they loved about grandpa. It was very sweet.

Andy got stuck carrying Kayman's and Jessica's rocks...of course they grabbed some of the biggest rocks they could find!
These are our family reunion T-shirts. The D is for Daniels (my maiden name) and is made up of all the names of the members of our family. Andy designed them and did a fabulous job!
Andy and me in front of my parents house.
Syd with her new idol. This is my cousin Lynsie and she and Syd were inseparable! Syd really loves her. They even look like they could be sisters!
My girls with my cousins Lynsie and Carly. We had a blast with the family. I didn't get a picture of all of us on my camera, I'll have to get a copy of it. I love my family!

Jeth lotht her firtht tooth!

Translation is "Jess lost her first tooth." She is having a hard time saying her S's now. She was VERY excited to lose a tooth like her big sister. Her second tooth is on its way out too! It's strange to me that she is growing up so fast. She goes to Kindergarten in a few months and then it will just be me and my little man. I'm feeling old...

Cleaning jobs

Every day my girls have to do their "Chart" before they are allowed to go play or watch movies, etc. Their chart consists of 1. making their bed, 2. cleaning their toys up, 3. brushing their teeth, 4. fixing their hair (or having me fix it), 5. do their homework or read, and 6. a cleaning job. I usually let them decide what their cleaning job is and help them if they can't think of anything.

Today Syd decided to clean the entire bathroom downstairs! It's sparkling!

Jess saw the need and decided to organize the movies!
Kayman thought it was time for mom to mop the floor apparently. I couldn't get out of him why he decided to make this mess, his only answer these days is "Cuz." So I mopped the floor while he spent a little time in his bedroom where he can make whatever mess he wants to clean up.
The girls' friend brought them the soda and they left it on the porch while they were playing outside. Kayman decided to help himself to it. He's such a stinker! It's a dang good thing he's so cute!

darn kids

This is what we came home to after a wonderful family reunion weekend in St. George. I'll post about the reunion after I've gone through all my pictures. My friend who was keeping an eye on the house found this when she came to feed the dog.

Whoever did it left the evidence right there on the porch...
We get a brand new window! Yay!

For the Love!

This was my lovely reward from Kayman while I cleaned out the fridge. I guess he was curious if the fish would swim. The entire bag of goldfish spreading all up the stairs like this. He had a good time cleaning it up too, which makes me nervous that he will do it again just to use the vacuum. The positive thing is that I now have a clean and organized fridge...AND freezer!

They're Ba-ack!

Already destroying my garden, the infamous grasshoppers are back and have begun their attack! I noticed them about 2 weeks ago when they were about 1/8 inch long and they are growing VERY rapidly! I got the yard sprayed and hopefully they are all going to be dead here in a few days. They better not destroy my garden this year, or else I'm gonna, uh, be really mad again, I guess. What can you do? Killing them one at a time by burning them, watching Dallas attack and eat them, sending the kids out to catch them, although very rewarding, is not too effective. Die grasshoppers, DIE!!!

Dance

The girls had their year end concert last week and did amazing! I haven't got the video on the computer yet, but I will soon. For now here are the pictures of them after the show.

This is a shot of Syd and me at her last competition. We decided to take her down a level and out of competition. She is very good, but the competitions were a bit much for her. She was getting bored and didn't look forward to them. A few days before the last one I mentioned it to her and she said, "I already have a trophy!" She didn't want to go. She does love dance though so both girls will be at the "Darling" level where they go to class twice a week and dance in the year end concert.
We love dance and especially the studio the girls dance at, Vision. It is a great studio with wonderful teachers. The girls are learning a ton and getting stronger and more flexible. With this change in level Syd will have more time to take piano lessons, and possibly karate for both of them.

Precious moments

Kayman has finally warmed up to his new cousin Gabe. He loves to hold him and feed him now. It's the cutest thing ever! Here they are together!

Syd also loves to hold him. Jess has yet to warm up to him. She isn't too sure what to do with babies.
Kayman and his little girlfriend Annabelle. These two are so stinkin' cute together! They were dancing here. Look how happy Man is. He's got himself an older woman! Okay, only about 6 weeks, but still. He's workin' it!
Look at the sweet smile on her face! We're getting some good wedding video photos! :)

CRaZy Hair Day

When I asked Syd how she wanted me to fix her hair for Crazy Hair Day she said she wanted "Lady Gaga Hair." We did this last year sometime, I found it on a blog and tried it. She wanted a great big bow made out of her hair on top of her head. Here is how it turned out. She loved it! I'm pretty sure she was the only one with this hair at school! :)

Another day...another decade

Ugh, I'm 30. It was my birthday on May 3 and I'm no longer in my 20's. I always thought I wouldn't care a bit when I turned 30, but then the day came. It was not my best day. I don't know why it was so depressing, but luckily I got over it. My family made me feel amazing!

Early in the afternoon I was getting some work done at the computer (not liking the fact that I was spending my 30th birthday at home working and thought I should be out doing something fun) when my kids and their friends came sneaking into the room. I could hear little whispers behind me and I knew they had something in store for me. It wasn't the devious whispering I am used to overhearing, so I was pretty sure they were not up to something naughty.

All of a sudden Syd ran up to me and put a birthday hat sticker on my shirt and they all started singing "Happy Birthday" to me! It was the sweetest thing in the world! I seriously started crying! It was hard to hide that from them, I knew there was no way they would understand why I would be crying in that moment, but it made me so happy. My little angels brightened my day right up!

When Andy got home from work he had this yummy ice cream cake from Baskin Robins for me! It was divine. The kids colored some pictures for me and got me pop rocks, some of my favorite candy!

Everyone keeps telling me that 30's are more fun, so I'll let you know if it's true...

Then on the Friday night after my birthday I planned with my friend Velvet to go out with our hubbies. We go out often and share a babysitter since all of our babysitters have knows our kids since they were born. We planned to go a little earlier than usual cause I needed to just get out.

Friday morning Velvet called to tell me that they were coming a little early so they could clean my house as my birthday gift! What wonderful friends I have. Anyone who is willing to clean your house for you is a keeper as far as I am concerned! :)

We left early enough that we planned to meet Andy at the restaurant. We left and I was SO excited to go to Tepanyaki for my birthday dinner. Right as we were pulling into the parking lot Velvet got a call from the babysitter saying that she though Samantha had broken her arm falling off the trampoline. They started heading back to our house, and I came up with a million different solutions...I suggested they leave me at the restaurant to meet Andy there since he was on his way. Once I called Andy and he said he was closer to home that the restaurant I agreed to head home with Justin and Velvet.

Andy called a few minutes later saying that Samantha's arm definitely looked broken and we should hurry home. I suggested he take her to instacare and we would meet him there, then he could take me to dinner while Justin and Velvet took care of Samantha. I really wanted those noodles! I kept throwing curve balls at them unknowingly.

When we walked in the door at my house I was so confused as to why the kitchen table was outside, then all of a sudden a million of my friends came around the corner! I have never had a surprise party before, and I was SO surprised! Suddenly the fact that Velvet came and cleaned my house made so much sense.

We had a big BBQ and it was so fun! Thank you to everyone who was able to come and make my night so wonderful!!! You are the best friends in the world. Andy and Velvet planned this thing so quickly and so well. I always thought that if I had a surprise party that I would figure something out beforehand. It didn't happen. I didn't have a clue!

Here I am with Velvet the night of my party. She is such an incredible person, and I am lucky to be such good fiends with her. She has taught me so much and I love her dearly!

Mr. Personality

Kayman has been so funny and witty lately. He likes to make us laugh. He's also going through a hitting/biting streak that I'm not sure how to break. He is just very high energy and loves to get reactions out of anyone he can.

I shared some of my protein shake with him, and here is his shake-stache.

The girls were using markers and Kayman thought he'd give it a try, only he didn't have any paper. That didn't stop him!

Our little cheeser. Syd fixed his hair for him. Comb-over in front and spikes in back. This do is totally his personality! He's got a bit of an edge to him. It's a good thing he is so stinkin' cute!

Thanksgiving Point

I went to Thanksgiving Point with a couple of friends last week while the weather was still somewhat warm. We stayed there about 3 hours and had to pry the kids away from there when it was time to leave. They had a great time!

The hail destroyed a lot of the tulips earlier in the week, but it was still very beautiful.

Syd going for a ride on the rhino!
Jess digging in the sand!
Man just hanging out and being cute as ever!

Thanks ladies for a great afternoon! We had so much fun!

10 Things

Thank you to my cousin Kari @ K & J Memories for passing this "award" to me!

Now I get to list 10 things that make me happy:

1. Being with my family
2. reading
3. finding a good pair of jeans that fits right
4. watching movies with buttery popcorn and DP
5. girls night out
6. watching my kids play with and teach each other
7. finding a good deal
8. watching my garden come to life
9. taking and looking at pictures
10.the Gospel

And now to pass along the "award" to some of my blogging friends:

Becky Hendriks

Rachel Starkie

Robin Dansie

Pass on the award:

1. Copy and paste the award onto your blog
2. Tell who gave the award and link to that person's blog.
3. List 10 things that make you happy.
4. Pass the award onto other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know about the award.

Outdoor fun

My kids and I have been LOVING the nice weather lately. We have spent a lot of time doing yard work and playing outside.

Syd came up with the idea to unhook the swings and attach them to the trampoline frame. They all had so much fun swinging upside down on them. Here is Jess trying it out. She was the first to go upside down.

Syd couldn't have her little sister show her up.
Kayman getting close. I couldn't watch this for too long, it made me so nervous he was going to fall and break his neck.
Syd added the second swing and grabbed her brother to relax in her "hammock."
Syd and Jess have been begging for a "water trampoline" for days! It's not warm enough yet, so I have said no...well mother nature provided where I wouldn't. Syd is convinced that Heavenly Father and her GGpa (who recently passed away) heard them talking about wanting a water trampoline so they made it rain! So sweet! I let them put their suits on and enjoy it, although it only lasted a few minutes before they were too cold.
On one of the first warm days we got lunchables and had a picnic outside. They loved it!
I can't wait for summer to be here! I have SO much work to do in the yard, but hopefully the kids will help a lot this summer. The girls are old enough to do some good weeding, and pick up the dog poop! :) Happy Spring!