They love this guy...

Mike spends so much time with our boys it is no surprise that they adore him so much. He really is their hero. Father's Day we woke up to little voices downstairs letting us know that Dad was not allowed downstairs. We waited for a bit and finally he was permitted to come. Whatever it was I knew I needed the camera. We come to find all of these little arrows around every corner with messages leading Mike to his treasure (we are infatuated with "treasure hunts" and if FHE doesn't end in one we have tears). It was absolutely one of the sweetest things I have ever seen my boys do, and they even let Joey help. It pays to be an awesome Dad, even if its in homemade arrows and brightly colored notes in your treasure box...






My heart melted reading these letters...


Mikey slaved all morning to make this robot and before Mike left for work he helped Mikey with the finishing touches. Now it sits next to all the trophies in his bedroom, just like one.

Just like mommy...

Recovering from Youth Conference...

And all I was in charge of was feeding 175 people for lunch - I give props to all the Stake gals who planned every second of it! Karly got to do all the shopping with me and felt so grown up when we found her these sun glasses at the dollar store!

It was the "Amazing Race" and our youth had a great time...so glad they got to go. Full of so many activities and a fantastic testimony meeting that helped me to see how great these kids are. Why didn't I get youth conferences like this?

Love this girl...

This is one of my dearest friends and one the most special days of my life was when I got to go through the temple with her this month. She is one of the most kindest hearted women I know and to watch her over the years prepare herself to change her life and go through the temple was such an amazing experience. She has always been a strong example to me of Christlike charity, even though her life has not been easy she has continued to always share what she has with others. I just adore you girl, thanks for letting me be a part of your life...good for you...

We look forward to this party all year!

Mikes summer work party. It's a chance to get all the families together from the firm and just play. Life is so busy that we only get a chance to do it once a year - but they sure do it with a bang! Every year the theme is different, from getting professional soccer players to teach the kids soccer and taking them to the ReAL game, or having a carnival full of every game you can think of. They really go all out.

This year was a cowboy theme and we had the best BBQ food ever! Tons of bounce houses, rock walls, shooting games, and all you can eat snow cones, cotton candy, and funnel cake! The kids were in heaven. All Karly wanted to do was eat snow cones and bounce in the play house, Joey love the gigantic slide, Mikey loved the rock wall and Dallin LIVED at the cake walk. He won so many prizes that I couldn't hold them all! By the end we started giving some away to kids who didn't win yet...poor things. Karly loved the horse until she realized it was fake, kind of a mean joke I guess.

Needless to say, we love Mikes firm and all the cool things they do for families - until next year...yeehaw!

Oh yah - Monopoly is also a Sunday must...

I forgot to mention that aside from Backyard Grass and Planet Earth as Sunday favorites - MONOPOLY is right up in the top five. I can't even remember how long this game has been around but I know my Dad would play it with his brothers as they would wait to spy on Santa Clause on Christmas Eve, so it's gotta be at least 50 years old or so. But regardless, my boys LOVE it, and as long as I can find all the pieces, we are good to go. This Sunday the game lasted almost 4 hours - and finally got taken down this afternoon - which is Wednesday. Heaven knows if I let Karly and Joey move the hotels while the boys are school, there is going to be madness when they get home. So for the last three days we have eaten at the counter - at least its a good game right? I am not sure who won - but doesn't matter, at least they like each other when its over.

Sundays...

I used to LOVE Sundays - even in high school. It was my day to just have an excuse to relax and be peaceful. Then I had kids and I have always wondered what happened to my peaceful day. We have tried so many things to make it a good day for the whole family and different things work at different times in our lives. Backyard grass and PLANET EARTH are by far the best ones. As my kidlets get older and more used to the fact that Sunday will always be a different day in our house, they get better at keeping it a simple day.

This last week Mike had a meeting in the morning and then got called last minute to help the Young Men collect fast offerings, so I was left to fend for myself - no sweat right? Well, any Mommy who has had their hubby's is meetings on Sundays mornings knows what that's like. But I did my best to keep my cool and finally came to the realization that being on time was just not going to happen today, so why shout and stress out and STILL be late? So I finally felt a calmness that all would be well walking in late (the last time we did it happened to be the Sunday the Bishop got up to the pulpit and asked everyone to stop being late each week - nicely of course...but needless to say we were humbled and don't walk in late much any more...) today. I just got everyone ready as best I could and quietly got into the car, bummed that I missed the Sacrament, yet happy that I kept my cool. When we pulled up to Church there wasn't ONE spot left in the parking lot (never usually a problem) and we had to park on the street - now we were EXTRA EXTRA late. As we walked in I heard a baby blessing going on and I realized that all our buddy's with new babies were having their blessings done today - I hadn't missed the Sacrament after all!! I know it seems silly, but I was so excited, I just need that so much each week to get me by.

So once again I was taught that things always seems to work out as long as you are doing your best, and I keep getting small experiences like these to teach me this "tender mercies" lesson again and again...so thankful for Sundays.

Keeping herself busy at soccer games too...

She just cracks me up. I don't know what goes on in her little mind but it would be sure fun to be a speck floating around in there to see all that she makes up with it. This is Karly enjoying Mikey's last soccer game! Next to Football, this kid is addicted...good job this season buddy!

I adore this woman...

This is wonderful Grandma whom I am named after and who I just adore. She lives close to me and I try to be with her as much as I can, it makes me feel close to my Dad when he lives so far away.

There are so many reasons why I love her:

As a mother of 10 living children, she inspires me with her guidance to be a better woman.

Even though she had to hand wash clothes, have no t.v., raise 10 kids, wash cloth diapers, no epidurals, cook everything from scratch, and lose a sweet baby, she treats me like I am amazing for all the "hard" work that I have to do to raise my kids. Seriously it seems easy compared to her life.

She has served three missions and continues to have a deep testimony of the Savior which she so willingly shares.

She has the best wit and humor and always gets me laughing at a moments notice.

She has been a widow for so many years yet she never complains. We just sit and talk about her sweetheart "Rex" every chance we get as she patiently waits for the day she gets to see him again.

She adores me as well as all her 50+ grandchildren, yet I feel like her favorite - even though I am sure we all feel like that. It takes a special person to be able to make you feel this way.

For all you do for me my dear wonderful Grandma, my hat goes off to you and I love you!

Entertaining herself at Baseball games!

We attend 3-9 games a week depending on the schedule, and our cute little Karly gets dragged all over with us. She is such a trooper and has learned to live off of Little Ceasers Pizza and granola bars! She also has learned to entertain herself despite slow moving baseball games. Today I brought my camera to document the event - she dances, sings, makes silly faces, and in between finds time to cheer on her brothers. She is such a doll!

This shot is my favorite!

Mikey is such a dedicated catcher, even though he thinks its alittle "boring." Little does he know its those poor outfielders who are bored stiff, especially since the ball only goes out there 2 or 3 times a game!

Stealing bases is his favorite thing to do!

Dallin is such a great little pitcher. He really takes it seriously and when he strikes someone out you can really see a tiny smile on the corner of his mouth. He tries not to show it, but he really loves a moment like that!

Playoffs are coming up and I have to admit I am excited! Not to see who is best, but to actually have an evening at home just with my cute family without rushing around all over town. Its been fun though! Good work boys! And my shout out goes to my awesome hubby who makes a fantastic coach! He hasn't been in ONE SINGLE fight with another coach this year and I give him props - not many other coaches can say that...sadly. Love you babe!!!