Smores!

We had a great Memorial Day today. I got to sleep in, then Grace, BethAnne and I went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 while Joy and Mark took a nap. Later we had a BBQ and ate outside on the patio (a first at this house), then we had FHE and afterwards we roasted marshmellows on the BBQ burner for smores! It was such a great day!

Grace kept burning her marshmellows, which frustrated her, but she had fun anyway.

Joy was just happy with all the new fun things we were doing. She loves the outdoors!

BethAnne was a marshmellow roasting pro!

Such a beautiful evening!

Joy really wanted to get the marshmellows down.

I think she was still thinking about how to get a marshmellow

Marshmellow success!

Sweet Daisy. We are really loving our sweet puppy who saves us so much time in floor cleaning. We had a bit of a scare with her this week because I accidentally dropped one of BethAnne's blood pressure pills on the floor and Daisy gobbled it up. Daisy is really small so we were worried that it would be a life-threatening overdose. The vet said we could bring her in to get her stomach pumped, but then Mark remembered that Daisy usually throws up when he takes her on drives. So he and the big girls took her on a drive (towards the 24-hour Vet), but she wasn't throwing up. So we asked BethAnne to say a prayer, and as she did, Daisy threw up. And she threw up twice after too. It was a neat experience and our Daisy is doing great.

Pretty Blue Eyes!

This is our garden this year. It has some herbs and a jalepeno plant and an upside down tomato plant. We wanted to plant a real garden but Daisy loves to dig up good soil, and she eats seeds and plants. So this was our compromise.

Have a great week! Happy Birthday Lisa! We love you all!
Love,
Aubrey

3 months in pictures...

We love to visit Grandma! She's always so fun to talk to and the kids just adore her - and her fruit snacks! We decided not to go to St. George for Spring Break because the weather was bad...so we stayed in Salt Lake instead.

We went to a fun place called Hollywood Connection- miniature golf, a carousel, a few rides that made mom sick, bumper cars, lazer tag, and even a fun little roller coaster inside the building. It was a great activity and the whole family had fun together.

Brian at the Pinewood Derby...he and big Brian worked so hard on the car. It looked great, and ran pretty well too, despite a last minute heart-breaker when the back axle slot broke out...

We always enjoyed spending time at Aunt Delona's house. Emily and Adam are very best friends. It's amazing to see Caitlyn and Tanner grow into young adults. They are all fantastic kids!

We love to have the neighbor kids over for movie night. It will be even more fun now that we have a nice TV (thanks Hon!)

Discovery Center in Boise - my kids love this place, and of course the company was great, too! This was BethAnne's baptism weekend. I wish I would have gotten a picture of her in her dress, but she's cute in these pictures too!

This was clear back in February - Adam turned 4! He can finally remember how old he is. We just love this little boy! A few of our neighbor families helped us celebrate.

Last but not least....Moab!! Brian loves this place so I'm sure we'll be going back every year for his Birthday. He's like a kid in a candy store, and it's contagious. We all had a really fun time together, and enjoyed being with extended family (Reed, Don, Scott, Matt and Whitney, etc) too!

Sunshine Joy

I thought I'd take some cute pictures of Joy in her new sunshine yellow outfit. She's our little sunshine!

Kid Comedy and Cakes

This evening there is a carnival at BethAnne's school. As part of the fun, and to help out, we made and decorated some cakes (there will also be a cake decorating contest, then the cakes will be used for a cake walk). BethAnne decorated three (all by herself, ideas and everything) and Grace decorated one (the top picture). Grace's cake is more decoration than cake, but quite creative nonetheless.

Kid Comedy-

Last weekend I picked up some Ben and Jerry's ice cream for Mark and I (which we usually don't splurge on). I got two kinds, mine was Chubby Hubby, which has strange sentimental meaning for me because I got some for Mark on his first birthday that I knew him . Anyway, on Monday morning I came downstairs and Grace was playing on the computer and I looked over on the counter and there was the top to my Chubby Hubby ice cream. I knew where to find the carton because it's happened before. In the garbage can was the rest of the ice cream (she likes to eat some and then throw the rest away (she's been known to do it with half gallons too). Anyway, I was really upset and I told her that she was not allowed to have ice cream without permission (which she knows) and I told her that that particular ice cream was special to me. I had a hard time letting it go, so she got a few reminders that day about not doing that again. The next day, I came downstairs after putting Joy down for a nap and what does she have in her hands- a spoon and Daddy's carton of Ben and Jerry's. She quickly said "there's more left if you want some". She could tell I was mad so she said "Was this ice cream special to you too?"

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On a related note, we were driving to Grandma's house yesterday so the kids could be babysat while Mark and I went to the Temple. The girls were fighting a bit, so I told them "You guys need to be good at Grandma's house, no fighting. I need you to be on your best behavior." Then came Grace's voice, as serious as I've ever heard her- "Mom, I am ALWAYS on my best behavior."

Have a Happy weekend!
Love,
Aubrey

Kid Comedy

BethAnne- "Why did the chicken cross the road?"
Grace- "Why?"
BethAnne- "You have to guess."
Grace- "It wanted to get run over by a car?"
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The other day Grace started yelling upstairs while I was feeding the baby lunch.  I called up for her to come downstairs to tell me what was wrong, but she just kept yelling.  So I went up to find out what was wrong.  She was on the toilet in my bathroom and my bathroom was out of the wet wipes she likes to use, so she didn't know what to do.  Exasperated, I told her that "most normal people just use toilet paper to wipe themselves clean".  And in classic, defiant voice, Grace said loudly "MOM!  I AM NOT MOST NORMAL PEOPLE!"  
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Have a great week!
Love,
Aubrey