My Mother's Day Goodies

So my husband did awesome this year for mother's day. I don't know if its the guilt I've piled on him over the years or what, but he went beyond my expectations. So Friday he tells me he doesn't think my gift will be here in time for mother's day so he would just show me a picture. The picture below is what I got. I couldn't believe it. We'd talked about it for a long time but the reality was I still had a good Nikon that worked relatively well but had small quirks. Well he decided I needed it and told me to get it. Well I wrote Becky McArthur about it and the one we were wanting and where would the best place to get it from be. Turns out, she was selling the same camera. So we went down yesterday to look at it and I was so excited!! I had to get it. So I got my new camera- a Canon 50d. I don't know it very well yet because I did have a Nikon before and they both work completely different, but the little I have done on it, I LOVE!! So I'm very excited to really get used to it and start taking 'AMAZING' pictures (note the sarcasm).

This is the first picture I took on this new camera. It is over at Becky's house.

Then, as if the camera wasn't enough, he got me these beautiful flowers. He also did the dishes (my least favorite chore) and helped me clean. Really made a great day for me.

Cambree sang today in church for the first time. She was so excited!! She went up there but unfortunately I really couldn't see her. She was placed on the stairs and could only see the tops of her head. She did make me a cupcake though in primary. Very cute. I love that my kids are getting older and understand these little days more and more. Makes it more fun for me :)

I hope all the women out there had a wonderful day!!

Bonnie's visit!!

Last weekend, Bonnie, her kids, and Scott Sorensen came down to go through the temple. They came down Friday night and we attempted to go out to eat. Man- it was SO busy EVERYWHERE! This is so weird to all of us in this small town. Usually we go in a restuaraunt and sit right down. Nope, not now with the Temple Open house. We waited for close to 40 minutes to be seated at a restuaraunt we usually sit ourselves. It was fun going out though.

That night, all the kids slept in Cambree and Ridge's room-well for the first half of the night :) Our house is so small that noise carries and wakes EVERYONE up. Sorry Tucker and Gracie.

Saturday morning, we went to the Temple Open House. My sister's came up as well along with my Grandma and Grandpa Meikle which was nice.

After we attempted yet another resturaunt- R and R pizza. I have NEVER seen it so busy!!

It was a very fun visit and the kids got along so well. I really wish we lived closer. Graice and Cambree were connected pretty much the whole time. Here are some fun pics of the weekend.

Cambree and Gracie showing us their moves. I could never get a good shot of them.

Ha

Another attempt...

It was so stink'n windy. Pictures were near impossible. We were literally getting blown away but we had to try it. Our hair looks so funny :)

This picture cracks me up. Cambree was posing in this picture. Its like a GQ pose..all business.

Thanks for coming to visit Bonnie and Scott. You guys need to come more often. We'll make Thatcher a better place to visit :)

Tribute to Mothers in my life!

I love mother's day. Of course, I love all the little gifts I get and the tribute to motherhood in general, but I love it more becuase it gives me a reason to recognize the wonderful women in my life that has helped shape me to be who I am today.

I was so blessed to grow up among some of greatest women alive. My two Grandmas- Grandma Meikle and Grandma McKnight are some of the most selfless women I know. They have been so awesome examples to me especially now as a mother myself. I look back at the traditions, attributes, and examples they were to me growing up. I truly hope I can aspire to be half the women/mothers they are. I love you both so much.

Then of course there is my mom. I was blessed to grow up in a large family. I was the lucky oldest. I got to watch my mom with my younger siblings and I know she helped me at an early age to be a good mom and wife. I've told this to my mom before, but she's definitely become one of my best friends. I call almost every day and she makes me feel like I'm doing a great job even though I know she's just doing her job as a mother and praising me. She helps me so much. Even living 3 hours away, she is willing to drop whatever to come help me if I need it. She gives me advice and helps me stay sane when I'm at my breaking point. I appreciate her so much more as a mother than ever before and I love her more than I could ever describe. Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Then there is of course, the other women I have come to learn and love in my life. Curtis' Grandma is such a blessing in our lives. Living next door, we get to see her almost daily and my kids love her so much.

Then there is my mother-in-law Pat. Living so close to her, I've learned to appreciate and respect her. She is so willing to help anyone if she can. She does double duty right now of helping her parents full-time and also makes sure to spread her time amongst her kids and grand-kids where she can. I hope she knows how much I appreciate her and all she does for me and my family.

These are just a few of the mother's in my life but there are so many more than have played a crucial part in my life over the years and have helped me in so many areas. I hope they all know how much I love and appreciate them.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Sunday is Mother's Day. I am so very blessed to have 3 beautiful children, an amazing husband and a supportive extended family who all help me as I travel down this path of motherhood. I decided today would be a great day to reflect on why I love being a mom.

1. Being Inspired . I may not be following the path I had dreamed up for myself, but I take great pride in my current accomplishment of bringing 3 wonderful children into the world. I am inspired with each of their small accomplishments to give them the best tools so that they can one day grow up to be successful, happy and accomplished individuals.

2. Being an Entertainer. I always dreamed of entertaining parties and coordinating them. Today I have a pretty amazing audience of 3. My days are filled with antics to entertain my crowd and while not all are successful we usually end up with a house full of laughter. I believe laughter is infectious and you can't help but put a smile on your face when you hear the sweet sounds of a child's giggle.

3. Being a Teacher. I come from a family full of teachers and never wanted that to be my career, however I am learning that as a mother it is one of the many hats I wear. I truly enjoy the opportunities to teach my children. I love being able to teach them new things through arts and crafts, books, fun explorations & outings. It is so rewarding to see the sheer joy on their faces as they discover something new.

4. Being Young at Heart. Having kids gives me permission to dance in the rain, talk in funny voices, lay in the grass and watch the clouds go by, bake cookies just because and have tea parties. I try to embrace the gentle reminder from my little ones to stop and enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

5. Being Appreciated. I have to admit I don't always feel this way, but then again I don't know any mom who always does. If I have learned anything at all from being a mom is that it is hard work and often times the many things you do go unnoticed. However, those rare and precious moments tend to sneak up on you just at the right moment; a sweet hug for no reason and a "Mommy, I love you" remind me just what a special job I have.

I owe thanks to a lot of people for helping me make my "job" as mom so enjoyable. My husband who always knows when to make me laugh and loves to give the kids their baths! My parents who were patient with me (and still are), set an excellent example and love babysitting for days at a time. My friends who understand (and don't mind when all you do is talk about your kids) and love having "girls night". To my mother-in-law, for always lending a helping hand and offering to lighten my load when I need it most. To each of you I say THANK YOU!

Brecklynn is 9 months!!

This is a bit late-ok a week late, but its better late then never.

This past month has been crazy. Been full of sickness and just pure craziness with the Temple Open house and school ending etc.

In a couple posts ago, I posted her weight and height. So I will just discuss what she's been up to.

-She's a crawling maniacque now. She's everywhere and fast.

- She loves to stand, and prefers to stand over crawling. She can pull herself up on anything and has started to walk along furniture.

- Ridge and her have a so called language. If he screams a certain way, she will copy or vice versa. They do it all the time.

- Brecklynn loves the outdoors. She prefers outside to inside.

- She's getting better with sleeping through the night. Only wakes one time. Hoping to change that soon.

- She's out of size 2 diapers now. I am finishing up with our size 2 diapers and then will get her to size 3.

-She's developed a bit of an attitude. If you tell her no, she screams back.

-She's learning to hold her own against her siblings. She will fight back or cry :)

-Food is huge with her. She watches what everyone else eats, and begs for some herself. Her new favorite is eggs- I know its early but hey she loves it.

-She loves to shake her head 'no' and will copy anyone else doing it.

-She got her two front teeth in at the same time. She's looking so old now.

-Trash is her new favorite. Yes we've hit that dreaded phase. So now all trash cans are on counters or in tubs, anywhere out of her little reach.

-She loves her daddy. She will sit and play with her daddy forever. I'm really jealous by this fact.

- She loves to do this throaty grunting sound. Sounds like a constipation grunt but its all fun. Cracks me up every time.

- She has found a liking to cords. This has been really bad for us. Any phone chargers, or computer cords etc. she has found and sucked on. It seems like every one of my kids have done this at one point or another. Drives me crazy. Nothing has been ruined yet, but we'll see.

I know I say this every time but I love seeing her little personality blossom more and more. She is such a joy in our family. Here's some pics I took of her.

This picture is for my mom. She wanted a picture of her two front teeth-mom click on the picture to make it bigger and you should see it. :)

This is her doing her fake airy laugh. She does it when she's very excited.

This was Sunday. I did her hair to the side for the first time. This dress is also what Cambree wore for Easter when she was little. I love to see Brecklynn in it.

Mud-

Cambree and Ridge got invited over the Aaron and Connie's new house to play in a huge mud hole. I was a little worried that they wouldn't enjoy it and the effort would be wasted, but Cambree LOVED IT!!!! Ridge on the other hand, hated it completely. There was even a little mud wading pool that got up to Cambree's chest. It was a fun time for all the kids. What kid wouldn't enjoy a good play in the mud :)

Temple Open House

Today we had the awesome opportunity of attending a special open house for the Gila Valley Temple. The official open house doesn't start until the 23rd, but today was a contractors open house-all those that worked on the temple and their families. This was such a neat experience. We went with Curtis' parents, grandma, and sister Sara and Darren. They have you start in the chapel next door to watch a special movie on the temple. Curtis and I were both surprised by the fact that the movie was made special just for our temple. For some reason we both thought the movie was just a general movie shown at temple open houses. So that was pretty neat to watch. Then we went on a tour of the temple. Cambree couldn't understand why we had to wear the special booties and kept asking when we would see the temple. We've been driving by for months and talking to her about it for months that I think she had a different idea of what the temple was. **as a side notes, on our way to the temple we asked Cambree if she knew who lived in the temple. She got really excited and said Aunt Lorene!! Thought that was funny. Its so neat to have these opportunities to teach our kids about the temple. It was absolutely beautiful inside. I'm very excited to start doing sessions in there in about a month.

After the tour, we went back to the church and they had a full on lunch for everyone in the cultural hall. It was all decorated and looked so homey. It didn't even look like a cultural hall. I feel so blessed to be able to attend this special occasion.

Here's some beautiful pictures taken by the oh so talented Curtis- he did pretty good huh :)

This is the corner stone. Curtis had the unique opportunity of doing a test run on raising it into place. How many people can say that?