Take our Picture

I ran downstairs last night to make Nash's bottle and Luke was up with the kids in my room. He yelled down to me to come and take their picture. They all look so nice and clean and I love any opportunity that I can get pictures of them all together. I thought I would take just a minute to talk about each one of our blessings.

LUKE- The first word I think of when I think of Luke is outgoing. He is our friendly boy. He will talk to anyone who will listen. He just learned to snap and is so excited to show off his new talent. He is really good with Harlee and Nash. He plays with Harlee each morning and lets me sleep in for a few minutes. He has also discovered that he can pick Nash up and loves to do that. He starts Kindergarten in just a few weeks and could not be more excited.

HARLEE- The first word I think of when I think of Harlee is independent. She loves to do everything by herself. Even if it takes her forever, she will complete the task. She is also our night owl. She loves to stay up and hang out with us long after the boys are asleep. She is very sneaky and always into something. She is so sweet and tenderhearted which makes any discipline nearly impossible. If she gets sad, she just strums her fingers on her lips and tries so hard not to cry. She has such a sweet spirit about her.

NASH- The first word that comes to mind when I think of Nash is happy. He has a smile that immediately brightens any room. He is becoming quite the mover and scoots all over the place. He puts everything in his mouth and is very curious. He loves when you talk to him and thrives on attention. He also does the cutest thing when you feed him a bottle. If he is tired he will hold onto his left foot with his left hand, and keep it close to his face. So cute!

I just love these three! They bring such happiness to our lives and we truly feel blessed to get to raise them.

What kind of car?

Today while we were driving Joey asked the kids what kind of car they want when they get older. Harlee yelled out "Yellow Tar!" Not a big surprise. She loves to point out every yellow car she sees when we are driving around. It is a good thing that those are so popular right now. Then Joey asked Luke what kind of car he would want. He said that he wanted a big car with flames coming out of it and flames all over the top. Hmmm... very interesting. Do you think he would be super excited if that is what saw in the driveway on his 16th birthday? Good to write these things down, would not want to get it wrong in a few years!

New Pics of Nash

What a cute boy! I just love his sweet face and a smile that lights up a room. I think I may have fixed the blurry camera issue so I wanted to take a few pictures. I cannot believe how quickly he is growing up. He can almost sit up by himself and scoots all over the place. He is a bit of a stinker when it comes to eating. He gags on rice cereal, baby vegetables and fruit. I was beginning to think that there might be something wrong with his swallowing. That was until I tried to feed him ice cream and that went down without a problem. He just wants to be one of the big kids! He is still just as happy as can be and we are truly blessed to have him in our family.

Free Family Fun at the Fountain

Although yesterday was July 24th, Pioneer Day, Joey had to work half day. When he got home I was preparing to go to the store and he was working in the yard. Mindi called and said that she was at this fun fountain for the kids to play in with Carson. She reminded me that grocery shopping could wait and I reminded Joey that yard work could also wait. So we got the kids in their bathing suits and we were off. I am so glad that we did. The kids had a blast! Free fun- nothing like it! I decided that we need to go there many more times this summer and I don't think I will hear any complaints.

Did you pour the water out?

On Thursday I let Luke have his friend Cade over to play. He always says that Cade is his best friend and they do play so well together. They were playing outside and kept asking for more to drink. I knew it was really hot outside but how could they be drinking those drinks so fast? So when they asked me again for more drinks I asked "How are you drinking those so fast- are you pouring them out?" Luke looked at me with a very guilty look and said no. Knowing this was not the case I asked Cade if they were pouring them out. Sensing he might tell me the truth, Luke turned around and shook his head no for Cade to get the clue to not say anything. Too bad I was standing right there and could see him doing it too! So I told them that they could not have anymore water.

About 2 minutes later Luke came in. "Mom, I am sorry." he said. "Sorry for what?" I asked. "For telling a lie about the water." he said. What a good boy. Wish he would not have lied in the first place but at least he was repenting! Then he said "Can I have some more water now?" What a stinker. Never a dull moment with this one.

Yellow post it note

This is how it all began. My mom gave a yellow post it note to Darolyne that had my phone number on it. She gave it to Joey in April and finally in mid July he gave me a call. Joey was living with his parents while they were building his townhouse in Draper. So he waited until his parents went to Canada and the coast was clear, then he gave me a call. We set up a date for July 24th. This was a blind date so I was a little bit nervous. Joey had seen a picture of me but sad to say he was not too impressed. So he showed up at my Belmont condo and we were off. He seemed really nice but I was not thinking it would be a match. He did open my door for me which was nice (come to find out that he had NEVER done that for anyone before- married the first!) but we seemed to struggle through conversation. We went through the small talk, work, hobbies, music. I told him how much I hated Emmylou Harris which happened to be one of his favs- not scoring too many points. We arrived at Macaroni Grill and ate dinner. We talked about his mission and I could not believe he went to Korea. Kind of a weird issue of mine- I swore I would never marry someone who served in Korea. Figured that they would want the subservient wife who wore her hair in a bun, served him, and always walked 10 feet behind him. So not true but just a weird issue of mine. So he was not really scoring points either! How is this going to turn around..... just wait, it obviously does! Well dinner was done, we boxed our leftovers, Joey paid the bill and I reached down to get my purse. When I came back up he was gone. I looked for him and he was already out the door. I rushed to meet him and said "Is the date really going that bad?" Joey was caught off guard because he realized that I could be sarcastic which was so how he was. This totally broke the awkwardness and we both started to be ourselves. Since Joey was intrigued with my sarcastic side, he decided to continue the date rather than end the weeknight dinner only plan! So we walked over to Borders music. We had so much fun reading books, listening to music, and learning more about each other. He even bought me a James Taylor Greatest Hits cd and bought himself Travis. We found out that we both had a love for music and actually liked a lot of the same artists. On the drive home we listened to Travis "Sing" and I teased him about the complicated lyrics. We had a really good time. As we pulled up to my condo he pulled out his planner and asked for my email address. I waited for him to get out to walk me up to the door and I would still be waiting until this day. I did not happen. I was a bit shocked that he would not make sure I got in safe. I walked in and told my roommates that I had a really good time. I said that I did not see us dating but I could see us becoming the best of friends.

Crazy how things work out. From the sound of the first date, who would have guessed 8 years later I would be writing about how in love I am with this guy! I truly love everything about him and feel so blessed that we are married. He is my best friend. He always makes me laugh and always makes me feel loved. Happy 8 years Joel Dave!! I know that there will be many many more. And just a side note, after a few dates and me bugging him about his lack of manners, he started walking me to the door!

Secret Fun

My Dad, GP, just finished redoing the Lehi slide at the outdoor Lehi Pool. It has been a long process and he is so glad to be done. As part of his thank you, they let him invite his family to enjoy the pool last night from 8pm - 10pm. Harlee would not nap yesterday so I decided to just take Luke. We had to still do the nightly routine, shower, read scriptures and pretend to fall asleep. Once Harlee was asleep and the coast was clear, we changed into our swimming suits and were off. Luke was so excited. We had so much fun together- not often that I get to just focus on one child. We went on the slide together and I don't think I have ever screamed that much. Luke was by far much braver than his mom! He went on several more times with people and then by himself. He kept saying "This is freakin awesome." I reminded him that we do not say freakin but he just sounded so cute. I cannot believe how big he is getting! He also jumped off the diving board without a life jacket. He is fearless and I love it. We had so much fun and it makes me realize how important the one on one time is for them. Joey and I need to set aside time to do that for each one of them.

Do we have a model in the making?

We got Harlee a new dress for church and I wanted to take a few pictures of her before we left. So I was asking for her cute smile and she just kept posing, having a great time. Maybe this could be a career in the future? I took a few cute pictures of Luke too- enjoy!!!

Friday FUN Day

Have I mentioned before how much I LOVE Joey's summer hours? Every third Friday he works all day but the others he is off at 11:30am. It is the best. This Friday I was able to take Luke and Harlee to the Draper pool. They have been wanting to go all summer. Since Joey is not really a fan of the pool he offered to stay home with Nash. We had a blast. It is so great to watch their two different personalities come out. Luke ran in, got his life jacket on, and he was gone. He just loves to go and swim all over. He talks to every one and makes friends. Then there is Harlee. She gets her life jacket on and then stays as close to me as possible. We went out in the water together but she does not want to get out of my sight. It was so fun to watch them have fun. Then when we got home Joey took Luke to play tennis. Never mind the fact that it was about 100 degrees, they had so much fun. They took their waters and a bag of tennis balls and returned with Luke's face as red as can be. Luke was very excited to tell me how good he did at tennis! Then I went to pick up Cafe Rio for dinner. What a great way to end a fun day!

Scootin around

Nash is no longer the baby you can leave upstairs in front of a good Wiggles episode and not worry- he is mobile and loving it! He is not quite crawling but scoots all over the place. The other night, Joey would put something a few feet in front of him and he found a way to get to it. I am so happy for him, not so much for me, but he is growing and developing so much. We just love our little Nash and he is motivating me to start the baby proofing! Way to go Nash!

Luke's First Talk

Today Luke gave his first talk in Primary. He did such a good job. I loved to watch him as he sat at the front of the room waiting to speak. He sat there with such excitement telling everyone who would listen that he was giving a talk today. What a different attitude than his parents! His talk was on "I Will Strengthen My Family." We colored a some pictures that I held up as he spoke. Here is what he said:

"I will strengthen my family by: Reading Scriptures together, by having Family Home Evening, by having family prayer, by being kind to my brother and sister, and by having fun together. I am thankful for my family."

He gave his talk almost by memory and knew the exact way to end it also. Joey had to teach today so he could not be in there but we were both so proud of him.

Date Night

I must admit that is a title I did not think I would see for awhile! Besides Don's wedding it has been at least 7 or 8 months since we last went on a date. I was really excited to spend some time with just Joey. Don't get me wrong, I love being all together as a family but I feel it is super important to have the one on one time also. So the long overdue date was made possible by Don and Charity. They were so nice to agree to watch the kids so we could go out and not worry. We stopped and grabbed a quick dinner at Wendy's to eat on the way to the Gallivan Center. During the summer they have free concerts every Thursday night. We both love music so these concerts are so fun for us. Last night Jenny Lewis and Bon Iver (one of Joey's favs) were performing. It was so much fun to be together. I have to admit though that I do not know which was a bigger show, the concert or the people. We are not sure where all the crazies come from but they sure provide an extra bonus of entertainment. Thanks Joey for such a fun night and here's to our goal of 2 dates a month!! Love it Joey!

P.S We had Luke take our picture before we left. He was very pleased with his new photography skills and so were we! Thanks Lukie!

Good Examples

In our stake we were asked to work on 3 family plans: temple worship plan, spiritual/temporal plan, and a missionary plan. We were asked to come up with ways to incorporate the above into our family. For part of our spiritual/temporal plan we decided to have family scripture study followed by family prayer every night. I was a little hesitant since they are so little so we decided to read one story from the children's Book of Mormon each night. I get so happy to see Luke on one side and Harlee on the other side of Joey as he reads. The kids love this so much and remind us every night to do this. On fourth of July we were up so late that we did not get to the reading. When we got home from fireworks at 11pm Luke said that we needed to read. It was so late but Joey promised we would read the next day. First thing Sunday morning, Harlee went and got the book and reminded us that we needed to read. What great examples Luke and Harlee are. I know that we are raising stronger spirits than ourselves and I am so thankful with their diligence in our family plan. Thanks for keeping us on track Luke and Harlee!

Fourth of July

I always love holidays because it means that Joey is home with us. Because he is on summer hours, he was off for half day on Thursday and then all of Friday. We spent so much time in the backyard laying sod and working hard but we did find time for fun on Saturday. After working in the yard, we rented a few movies. The kids watched Furious Five downstairs and Joey and I watched Passengers upstairs. We planned on driving to a lower neighborhood to watch the Thanksgiving Point fireworks so we were all waiting for dark. Around 9pm Mindi called and invited us to watch the fireworks with them in front of Cabellas. So we brought some treats and they cooked hot dogs and we had a blast. I love to watch Luke and Harlee interact with their cousins. It was a great time and I think it will become tradition.

Day of "Firsts"

Yesterday was a day of "firsts" for our little Harlee. It started out with a good first and then ended with one I would not mind if it never happened again. Harlee got to go to her first birthday party. I could not believe that I was dropping her off for her 2 hours of fun. Good thing it was for Brooke and Dane and I knew Jenny would take great care of her. It was a Dora and Diego party. Brooke and Dane dressed up like those characters and they had a great time. When I picked Harlee up she told me that she ate "tate" aka "cake" and had ice cream. She also told me that they played "Dut dut doose". It took me awhile to crack that code but she was thrilled when I guessed "Duck Duck Goose"! She had so much fun and came home with lots of little treasures. The next first that happened was not so fun. She came home and spent sometime out in the dirt so I put her and Luke in the shower. I went to get their pjs and ran back in when Luke was screaming. He said that Harlee had fallen. She was bleeding so much and I found that the blood was coming from her chin. So I quickly dressed her and we were off to the ER. She was so brave. They checked her and confirmed that she would need stitches. They gave me the option of sedation or strapping her down in a papoose to do the stitches. I called Joey and we opted for the sedation. They tried to do it by spraying medicine in her nose but after 10 minutes of no effect they needed to give her a injection. Tears filled my eyes to watch her go through that. After about 10 minutes she was out of it. I thought she would fall asleep but instead she just stared at me blankly. She was out of it but by the time they went to stitch her up she was a little more aware. My heart was breaking to see the fear on her face. But she held my hand and was so calm as they put in the 4 stitches. I was so proud of her. The doctors gave her 2 cute stuffed animals and everyone commented on what a cute girl she is. I just pray this is the only time we have to go through this. I don't think there is anything worse than watching someone you love in pain. I know that this was definitely not the worst thing that could have happened but I would be OK to not experience it again.

Backyard of our dreams

I am so lucky that I have a husband who not only has a landscaping background but is the hardest worker. He made our last backyard look amazing (we actually still miss it and drive by often to see how it is growing!) and now he is doing the same at our new house. He is teaching Luke and Harlee the importance of work and I love to see them working together. I have to mention Harlee's outfit- love the footed jammies with the shoes and the beads around her neck. Still girlie in all of that dirt! Thanks all of you for working so hard. I cannot wait to see it when it is done!

Nash's 6 month checkup

My how time flies when you are having fun! I cannot believe it is 6 month checkup time already! Well Nash made us proud. He is growing faster than normal. His weight is 20 lbs and 1 ounce which is 90%. His height is 29 1/2 inches which takes him off the charts. He is such a big kid! The doctor said that he is advanced in his development. The fact that he is rolling all over and starting to scoot puts him ahead of most babies his age. Does not surprise me, he is following in the "advanced" footsteps of his brother and sister. I would almost bet that comes from their Dad!! Over the next few months the doctor said he should be scooting more and start to crawl. He threatened him that he better not be walking by 9 months and I second that threat! I am not ready for that just yet! What a dream baby Nash is and we are so glad that he is finally healthy!

Love this picture

Because all of our kids are movers it is hard to come by a picture of all three of them together, let alone being still. I just love this picture of them. I love how they are holding hands- too cute! I hope that they always stay this close. I pray they become great friends and look out for each other. It is so crazy to me that we have been given the opportunity to know and love these three beautiful children. Heavenly Father must have a lot of faith in us and I pray daily that we make Him proud.