A Surprise Visitor

My Mom made an unexpected visit to Utah last week and it was so wonderful to have her with us but somewhat sad the reason for her coming. One of her younger sisters passed away on June 7th after suffering from the effects of diabetes for years and years. Her passing is sad, not unexpected, and happy because she is free from the limitations of her physical body. My Mom was not able to see her before she passed away, but she was able to talk on the phone with her for a few minutes and we are all glad she was able to do that. The funeral service was very nice and everyone was able to say goodbye.
The picture above is of myself, my Mom, and my 4 siblings. Our spouses took care of our children so that we could attend the service and not have to be distracted by little kiddos. Looking at the picture, I don't remember the last time I was with just my siblings and not that we don't love all of the additions to our family but it was nice to just spend a few minutes the 5 of us sitting together. We really missed our Dad but soon enough we will have him back with us. My brother Garrett came down from Seattle with his family and my sister Ally was able to come up from Texas with her youngest so it was a sweet few days to be able to spend them with our Mom.
In so many ways I can't believe she has already been gone for 2 years of their 3 year mission having her here it almost started to feel like old times. It really makes the 1 remaining year not seem so far away. Till next July 1st when both of my parents will be back home!

Memorial Day

The calendar says it is the end of May, but as we spent the weekend out of town at the cabin, I may beg to differ! I just heard on the news that the amount of rain SLC has had this month of May is a new record over 13" and it is likely to happen once every 150 years. Well we had a good Saturday morning and then by Sat. night had a good 4" of snow on the ground. It continued into Sunday and so we decided to pack it up and come home a day early.

My brother-in-law Matt getting a little shut eye with his cutie pie daughter Sarah.

I love my niece Annie Kate. She is so funny and has so much personality.

We played some games after the kids were in bed. So fun, and funny.

My two boys, so much fun.

Jack and Henry on our walk to check out the raging river. It isn't overflowing yet but I am sure that it will soon. Thank goodness the cabin is far up the hill and not on the main part of the river flow.

This one is just because he is so fun. He is such a good little guy. So happy and usually in such a good mood.
We had a great time thanks to everyone for coming up.

Happy Graduation

Jack finished his first year of pre-school and they had a great patriotic program. He was so happy and sang 5 songs with his classmates. Singing in these programs has not been his favorite thing but he has come a long way and I actually saw his singing some of the words.

Jack and Mom. And yes that is me and my new haircut. I had 13" cut off yesterday, it feels great!

Jack and Mrs. Brooks. Jack is so excited to come back next year to have another fun year with her.

Our happy graduate throwing his cap, his favorite part of the program.

Such a cutie. I am so grateful for this little life and that I get to be his Mommy.

Fun With Henry

Jack's cousin Henry is a frequent face on our blog but since Henry's family moved away from Bountiful we like to have Henry come down for sleepovers every once and a while. Henry came down this weekend and we all had a lot of fun. I took Jack & Henry to a movie called Born To Be Wild, it is about orphaned elephants in Kenya and orangutans in Borneo. I thought the boys would love it but I don't think they really did. I thought it was great and I loved seeing these animals and am so impressed with elephants and their perceptiveness. It was really wonderful.
We also went to see the chalk art pictures that are drawn along a section of Main St. in Bountiful. They boys loved seeing the tigers, Cam would growl every time he saw one, and there were even a few pictures of Rapunzel and Eugene that the boys liked. They even had to come home and draw their own version. (Sorry about the shadow in that picture)

We made a stop at Fireman's Park which is always a lot of fun.

We drove up to drop Henry off to his family and we met them at his sister Ellie's soccer game and were able to watch Ellie play for a while. Jack just completely adores his cousins and I hope that will always be the case. They were just standing there watching something, I don't even know what, but these two have so much fun together and so much more fun to come!

Don't Be Afraid

...if you see this coming down your street!

Jack loves wearing his ski helmet while he rides his bike and of course he has to find the "perfect" stick to be his gun.

We do get some smiles it isn't all seriousness.

And here is one of Cam just watching his brother.

Sarah Jane Ashton

My newest niece Sarah Jane was blessed a couple of weeks ago. This is the only picture I have but she was beyond adorable in her beautiful blessing gown from Spain. The blanket that Nikki has her wrapped up in is also from Spain. All 3 of the babies born while my parents have been away have had blessing outfits from Spain, a fun memory. We love you Sarah!!

Frederick The Mouse

Jack was in a little play at pre-school based on the book by Leo Lionni called Frederick. It is an adorable book and the kids at school were adorable doing the play.

Pretty cute mouse!