Little Fish

We made it through swimming lessons! I think Lauren liked it, she didn't care much for staying with her class or teachers... as long as she could go off with Dallin and play by themselves they had a great time! I'm hoping she'll want to stick with her class when she starts preschool in the fall.

 Gavin and I did the mom and tot class. We really only got in the water a few of the days. He liked it for 5 or 10 minutes then was done. He had a cold this week too and with it being so cold and rainy I didn't want to give him pneumonia. :/ Chase was able to take half a day and come watch.

Dinosaur Park

We had a great time at the dinosaur park this week! Lauren was a little hesitant to go by the dinosaurs at first since they have speakers with dinosaur sounds going. It took a little convincing until she realized they weren't real. And as long as the stroller was moving Gavin loved it too. :)

Summer!

Summer is great! Already we've had fun at the park, swinging with Paki (that's what she calls Grandpa), playing in the sandbox and swimming!

Lauren Lately

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words:
-Lauren is into taking selfies lately.
-Grandma found her some pink sunglasses, obviously they make her look like a movie star.
-We took the bumpers off Gavin's crib...she turned them into "seats" leaned up against the banister for all her "friends."
-The guard for my kitchenaid makes an awesome superhero hat, complete the look with some tongs and you're ready to save the world!
-Swinging at the park is a favorite pastime.
-Mom I'm tired!
-Some friends gave us a hand-me-down bike that she's been riding and absolutely loves, here she is helping Daddy fix the tire.
-If you look close she is wearing her sand bucket as a hat, which is for sure the best way to use it!

Her imagination has come full force lately. Yesterday I couldn't find her, I went outside and she was sitting on the step feeding fruit snacks to her "sheepies." Later I found her out there again with her towel over her head like a shepherd and she was singing them to sleep.

She rolled a ball onto the ledge over the stairs and we couldn't reach it. Suddenly her face lit up and she yelled, "I know! Daddy can get it... he is super-duper!" Yep he is.

She had her first dentist visit yesterday. It took me a few minutes to get her in the door, but after that she said she wants to go back next week! They were really good with her and just did a Happy Happy visit. They gave her stickers, movies to watch, toothbrushes and all the toys to play with. She was in heaven! Hopefully next time she'll open her mouth for them to look!

We survived her first week of swimming lessons. Once I can get her INTO the water she has a blast and I can't get her OUT. She has a mind of her own and keeps her teachers hopping, while the rest of the class is doing kicks or blowing bubbles she's off in her own little world. Thankfully it's better since I switched her to the same time as Dallin. Everything is better with your best friend and cousin!

Yard of Dreams

We bought this house because it had "projects to keep us busy" as Chase said. The yard was included in these "projects."

This will be our third summer here and this last weekend the backyard actually felt like a yard instead of a barren wasteland of rocks and weeds! Granted there are still a ton of rocks out there, the dirt here seems to be more rock than dirt, but still!

Sorry for the fuzzy pictures. I think the hazy glow was from the bright sunshine looking down on all our hard work. :)

Still have a long way to go... we have plans for to expand the back patio to include a pergola and bench swing, finish the garden with more boxes and pathways, lay a brick path and fire-pit along the back of the garden and mulch the back easement. But hey, this is a far cry from where we started from! :)

And this was AFTER we hacked down the 3 foot tall weeds!

Epic

Today defied all odds... I thought I had seen the worst of Lauren's tantrums... I was wrong. Oh boy. Needless to say, today was not a good mom day.

"There once was a girl
who had a little curl
right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good,
She was very, very good.
But when she was bad,
she was horrid!"

That's my daughter. I was thinking about her fits a lot this afternoon and I came to the conclusion that she has these meltdowns when she's tired, which makes sense. I just can't figure out why she's so tired so often. She still takes a good 2 hour nap most days... goes to bed about 7 and wakes up about 6:30. Is that not enough sleep?!

7 Years

Seven years ago today it was cloudy and raining, it was snowing in the canyon, but the pink tulips at the temple were in full bloom, and we were getting married!

Chase pulled out our wedding video this morning, it was fun to see how things have changed. It was a reminder of how far we've come, and how far we get to go. The number of years we've been married have more significance to me rather than the actual changing of the year in January. Some years have been great, some years have been hard, some have been eventful, some have been more quiet.

This past year has been hard, but there's no one I'd rather have with me to go through it. Bad luck seems to plaque us lately, but maybe...just maybe, today will mark the beginning of a great year!