We LOVE Daddy!

Father's Day and Ryan's birthday are always in the same week, which means lots of celebrating Dad at our house!  The kids were so excited to do some special things for him, especially my  Madi girl.   This girl is so sweet and thoughtful, and as much as she makes me crazy at times, when she does things like this I can't help but think, this is whey everyone needs to have  a little girl.  She was in creative mode and went to town.

Special Father's Day crown, along with special place cards and some kind of neck decor as well.  I am pretty sure no one else got one of those for Father's Day.  His chair was also decorated.

Mantel Decor, each is a picture she made of something Dad loves.

Each of these is a card she wrote a note on and and folded them up like this.  Can you tell she likes to make cards?  I'm telling you, with out a little girl in your house you'd never get treated to something like this.   Translation: Happy Fathers Day  Dad is rad and glad.

Dad loved opening all of his notes and we had a good laugh.  I am sure he shed a few tears as well, because, well it's Ryan.  And he is sweet.  This note says "You are a fan of BYU"

We were happy to have Grandma over for some of the festivities, she wore Grandpa's BYU apron to represent him.  I am sure he was enjoying Father's Day watching all these cute grandkids.

Daddy's Birthday!  My husband is 39!  How did this happen?!

 Special Birthday breakfast before Dad is off to work, excited kids to sing to Dad and also to enjoy Mom's yummy baked french toast!

 We were sure busy during the day getting Dad's birthday cake ready, it's a good thing I have this cute helper to make sure things taste good!

I may have gone a tiny bit overboard on Ryan's birthday treat.  I had planned to make this delicious ice cream dessert you see and then ended up making a cake as well.  Peanut butter cake, with chocolate fudge frosting and peanut butter cup ice cream dessert, well you only turn 39 once!

 It was delicious!  Ridiculously delicious.  We definitely didn't lose any weight that week.  And of course a birthday crown from Madi made the festivity complete.

This sweet boy loves birthday candles!  No matter who's they are.

Fun week celebrating the greatest Daddy!  These 3 adore him and they are so blessed to have a Daddy who loves them with all his heart.  I am blessed to have these 4.

BYU & Park City

Well hear I am, once again, months behind on keeping the kids documented, despite my determination to stay on top of it!  I am determined to get caught up again, especially with Halloween upon us, and then I know I'll blink and Christmas will be here!  So, Summer catch up!  Pierce and Madi were excited to be out of school and Pierce said goodbye to Elementary school.  Crazy.  I always dread summer and feel like a terrible mother for dreading it, but I've realized the first 2 weeks are rough as Pierce and Madi adjust to being home and spending so much time together, then they do great!  Until the last two weeks. Then I'm beyond ready to have them out of the house and away from each other.  But all those weeks in between were actually pretty darn good.  Here are some of our June Highlights...

The kids were so excited for Park City this year.  Now that they are a little older they were really looking forward to it and remembering the fun they had last time.  We also bribed  motivated them to have good behavior the month leading up to the trip with "BYU Bucks", a brilliant idea if I may say so.  We had never been to the BYU Bookstore before and we figured if we could leave early enough in the day we could stop in Provo and take our little Cougar fans to campus and to pick something out at the bookstore.  Worked great!  Ryan made cute little BYU bucks and I gave them to the kids for doing their chores with good attitudes, being kind and helpful, etc.  They were so excited to go spend their BYU bucks!  

 Pierce got a cool new hat, Madi picked out a BYU Hello Kitty (of course), we got a BYU shirt for Jens and I thoroughly enjoyed a bag of chocolate covered cinnamon bears that were kept hidden from the kids.

 My Cougar Fans in front of the Y!

 We also stopped at the BYU creamery for an ice cream cone, which did not disappoint, as you can see.

Also like our last Park City trip, Ryan was in class all day and the kids and I hung out at the hotel all day.  It was much more enjoyable this time!  Jens slept great and was so much fun.  We had Madi and Jens sleep on the pull out couch together and Jens loved it, Pierce slept in the loft room upstairs.  Everyone sleeping = everyone having fun.  I am so grateful Jens has become easier to travel with, for a while there I was pretty convinced we were never going anywhere again.  Well at least until he is 5, but thankfully he's turned into a great traveler now!  The kids had a grand time, hot tubbing on the deck, swimming, and hanging out at the hotel playing games and watching movies was fun for them!   We also had Aunt Kate, Bennett and Macy join us for a day and come with us to the Alpine Slide.  Ryan ditched classes for a couple of hours so we could have a little family time and do the slide again.  Tay was also up in Park City for soccer games and we were able to go watch her team play.  

 Ryan with Bennett and Pierce coming down the slide!

 Jens did pretty good for his first time!  He was a little hesitant but I just kept telling him we were going fast "like Rocket" and that made it all good.

Pierce had been begging to go on the "big" zip line this year, he was tall enough and so excited so Ryan took him, he loved it!

 Everyone had fun on the Alpine Coaster!

 My cute All American swimmers!

Our last night there was the UOA Conference family pic nic.  The kids enjoyed hot dogs and hamburgers and cookies and best of all free unlimited rides on the carousel at the Zermot!

 Madi was in Heaven, she went again and again.

 I love this picture, this is so her, gazing lovingly at her Pig she's riding.  Don't think she really realizes it's acutely a wild boar.  It was her favorite.  She had fallen and scraped her knee and had been in hysterics.  Thankfully a nice man came to the rescue with a bandage, that and a dozen carousel  rides and she was happy again.

 Almost thinks he's too big, glad not quite yet.

 Jens enjoyed the carousel as long as it was from mom and dad's lap on the bench.  He wanted nothing to do with sitting on an animal.

 Madi with the kind Carousel operator.

The nice carousel man told Madi that this bear was also named "Matty", (not matter that it's a different name, it sounds the same!)  She was pretty excited about that!  

The kids were sad to leave the hotel, they had such a fun time!  One of the funniest things was how much Jens loved being at the hotel, he was fascinated by the parking garbage and dubbed it the "spooky garage".  Since this trip he has talked frequently of the "hotel with the spooky garage",  he can't wait to go back and definitely has a thing for hotels now.  Just recently we were driving in the car and he was looking out the window and said "Mom, I don't see any hotels".  He is so funny, he keeps us laughing for sure.  

We left Park City Sunday morning and were able to drive to Salt Lake to attend J.D. and Amanda's ward to see them bless their new baby, Amelia.  (aka Millie)  We were glad that we were able to be there to support them and to see our cousins for a little bit.  

Jensen is 3!

This little boy keeps growing up too fast!  Already 3!  He was SO excited for his birthday! This boy loves birthdays!  He remembers his R2 cake from last year and he kept talking about me making him an R2 cake, luckily I was able to convince him into something else!  He was so ready for his big day!

Morning muffin, loves blowing out his candle and loves muffins - makes for a happy birthday boy in the morning!

I kept his party simple this year, honestly I just did not have the energy to do a big party, (especially after Madi's party and baptism) and it turned out that simple was great, he was as happy as could be!  We went to the park with friends to play for a couple of hours and I brought "cuk capes", that was party enough for him, he had a grand time!  I had been thinking I would do a "Jake" cake for him but the day before he decided he wanted a "Super Why" Birthday, he was on a major Super Why kick that week where he was Super Why and I was the Pig.  Every day he was calling me "pig".  Nice.  I had to remind myself it was more of a term of endearment, he really loves the pig.   Love how he pretends though, always keeps me laughing!

"Wonder Red 'Cuk Cape'"

We had Hannah and Bowen, Jack and Heid, Tommy and Sarah join us for fun at the park.  The night before he was talking about his friends who were coming to the park for his birthday and he told me he wanted "Mel and Jerzi and Evey".  He LOVES my sweet friend and neighbor Mel and is in love with her little dog Jerzi.  I texted Mel and told her that they were on Jensen's list of friends and she was so great to come!  It is so adorable how he loves Mel!

Mel & Jerzi! All his birthday wishes come true!

After the park I took him home and we played with his new Jake Lego set from Jack and Heidi, he was also pretty excited about the Mickey bath toy from Tommy and Sarah, I really had to convince him to wait until that night of his bath!  Once Dad got home we had pizza for dinner and then the Woodburys came down for 'cuk capes" and ice cream.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

He thoroughly enjoyed his official happy birthday "cuk cape".  I love how he mixes up the "k" and the "p" and says "cuk cape".

Madi & Annie - love these two girls.  I am sure I can embarrass them some day with this messy faced picture.  Too cute!

Present Time!

A new scooter!  Jens took over Pierce's Bumblebee scooter months ago, only he can't ride it, but he wants to be like the kids so bad he just walks it around "riding" it.  We got him a 3 wheeled scooter so he can hopefully get the hang of riding one!  Such a fun day for this birthday boy!

Jens is such a joy, he is the light in our home and brings so much love!  We all adore him and are constantly entertained by his cuteness.  He is always making us laugh with the funny things he says.  I love the way he says "cuk cape", calls a baseball mit a "ball catcher catcher" and a tape measure a "measure tape".  He makes us laugh saying "I smell like" when he smells something, so instead of saying he smells something he says he smells "like" something.  We especially get a kick out of it when anyone is using the bathroom and he says "I don't want to smell like your poop".   He has grown out of saying "goccer ball" and now says it correctly and I miss it.

He still loves outside, loves to "ride" scooters with the kids, ride his bike (he is getting pretty good at balancing on the strider bike!) he loves to play with the kids and do whatever they do, especially playing Legos with Brother, but he also has a good time playing LaLaLoopsies with Sissy.   He loves to watch shows and loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Mickey,  "Little Steinsteins" (Einsteins),  Henry Hugglemonster, and Octonauts.  He has just recently discovered Sherrif Callie, Super Why and Dinosaur Train which are new favorites too.  What I love about the shows he watches is how much he pretends them, he is always pretending to be someone and gives the whole family a part in his game.  He also loves all the superheroes and his Green Lantern underwear are officially his favorite pair!

He is still a Momma's Boy and I LOVE it!  Nothing makes me happier than his little arms around my neck and him saying "I wove you".  He is so sweet and he tells me that he loves me frequently with out any prompting.  He has his moments when he wants everyone else and whoever is the lucky one enjoys it to the fullest!  The kids are so great at taking care of and entertaining him, they play so cute with him it is a great blessing.  He also loves nursery (finally! It was a long road to get there) and I love how it calls it "mursery".  He loves to play with his friends Heidi, Sarah and Jet.  He and Heidi play especially well together and one of my favorite things is to watch him play with her.  They have real conversations and play together so cute!  He also really loves Grandma and gets so exited when she comes over.  He enjoys going to the Halls house and loves their cats.  They lost their cat Angel about a year ago and he still talks about "finding Angel" and how "Brookey sad" and he wants to find Angel to make Brookey happy.  One day Crystal watched him for me and he was determined to go outside and find Angel, when he found one of their other cats he was convinced he had found Angel and was so happy about it!  It is so cute how he loves Mel and her dog Jerzi and he often talks about them, he even likes to pretend to be Jerzi and tells me "Mom I'm Jerzi, you're Mel"  sometimes Madi is in on the game and she gets to be Evey.  Such a funny boy!  He loves little dogs and is excited to see any dog, he also loves the Meyer's dog, Ginger.  He also still loves to help me with laundry (he has loved this since just before he turned 1) he loves to push the buttons on the washer and says "I want to make the "funny noise!"  He also still loves clocks (he has also loved clocks since he was a baby), he points out clocks any where we go and he loves to help me wind our clock in the "diming room".   I love how when he asks me for something he's excited about and I say yes (to watch a show, a treat, or whatever he's wanting at the moment) he's response in an enthusiastic "yay!"  I wish I could record him and catch all the funny little things he says, he is such a happy, sweet, fun and loving little boy, we are so happy we have him!  

Madi's Baptism

This girl was so excited and ready to be baptized!  I have been very proud of her this year, she has really grown up in the last 6 months and has been trying so hard to be good!  She has come so far from the fit throwing 7 year old she was a year ago!  She truly wants to choose to be good and to choose to be happy.  She is very sweet and tender and always wanting to do something to make someone else happy.  When I had her last parent/teacher conference of 2nd grade her teacher told me, "she is so compassionate."  Wow, a proud Mom moment for me!  She was such good student and always going out of her way to be kind to the kids in her class.  She had a classmate with some learning disabilities and Madi was always the one to help her and to stand up for her when the boys made fun of her.  She would finish her own work and then always help Cami do her work.  There was a little girl in our ward for a time who was in a wheelchair and Madi met her in the hall one day, she was always thinking about her after that and on Christmas Day she took a card to her.  Ellen's dad later told Ryan that she loved the card so much she carried it around in her backpack on the back of her wheelchair every day.  She also loves to make cards and write notes to her friends and especially at home for Mom and Dad, I often think, when I see a new note she has tapped up somewhere, everyone needs a little girl to bring this kind of sweetness to their life!

Before her baptism I took her to the temple to do a photo shoot in her new white dress.  She had seen me do this for 3 of her friends and so she was so excited to finally get her turn!  We had a great time, here are some favorites...

The Big Day

 Getting ready with Daddy

Our close friend and family who were there to support Madi and celebrate with us...

 The Hansens - Ash, Baby Roam, Jet, Cora and Kurt

 The Eves - Kelton, Logan, Ellie, Bridger, Thatcher, Aunt Carolyn

 The Halls - Aunt Crystal, Brooke, Ammon, Dallin, Harrison, Matthew

 Grandma

 Great Grandpa Jens - I was so grateful for my Grandpa coming down!  So nice to have someone from my Mom's family to be here, and especially to have a Grandpa here! Grandpa was so sweet and didn't hesitate to say he'd make the drive down for Madi's baptism.  He was one of the witnesses.

 Best Friend Annie

 Annie's Family, The Woodburys - Kathryn, Jack, Annie, Grant, Heidi and Dustin

 Hannah, Bowen, Aunt Deli and Jackson

The Brooks - Grandpa Sam, Joey, Julianne, Sarah, Bishop Joe, Grandma Carolyn and Tommy.  We love the Brooks family and are grateful for their friendship, Bishop Joe was the 2nd witness and we loved having their Sam and Carolyn join us, we have grown to love them as we have gotten to know them over the years of them visiting Joe and Julianne.  

 Jens was throwing a fit for our attempted family picture so this is the best we got  - Mom and Madi

Madi's friend, Aubrey, was also here for the baptism but left before we did pictures, we also had Bro. McAffee and Sis. Christensen from our ward there.

After the baptism we invited everyone over for a delicious dutch oven dinner,  it was amazing!  Kurt and Ash's brother in law cooked it for us and it was so nice to have someone else do the cooking!  Dutch oven potatoes, beans and pulled pork, they were delish!  Mom made coconut cupcakes that were pretty much the best ever and Kathryn was so nice to make these adorable and unbelievably soft and delicious sugar cookies!

We were grateful for our family and close friends that were there with us on Madi's special day.  We missed a lot of the family that didn't make it and we really missed the ones that we know were watching but we couldn't see, Grandpa and Grandma Kathy and Todd.  Madi had a wonderful, special day, she was a little sad when it was over, she told me that she just wanted to remember exactly how she felt when she was in the water!  She was beaming and so happy, we were so proud of her and so happy that she chose to be baptized!