Special Day

Yesterday was Daryk's farewell. Cannot believe that he will be leaving in 9 days for his mission in Japan. He gave such a good talk on listening to the promptings from the Holy Ghost. He is going to be such a great missionary and bring the happiness of the gospel to so many people. We were able to have a dinner with Joey's family at our house after the farewell and get together. I just love this family. They are so fun to be around and I am so grateful for all of them. So grateful for Daryk's example for all of his cousins who will hopefully follow in his footsteps.

12 years ago...

Twelve years ago Joey showed up at Belmont Condos to pick me up for our first "blind" date! Neither of us EVER would have guessed this is where we would be twelve years later. Here are some emails we exchanged this morning: She said: Twelve years ago, you took a chance on a high maintenance gal in her sparkly flip flops! If not for that decision and my witty comment about your early table departure, who knows where we would be? So grateful for all of the many blessings that have come because of that fateful day. I found my best friend and I am blessed to spend an eternity with him! Happy 12 years! I think I might listen to a little Travis to celebrate! I love you Joey!! Thank you for making this beautiful life for us. Jamie He said: Wow. Crazy to think that it has been twelve years ago today that I took a leap of faith with the high maintenance girl to do a dinner!! What a great decision. I am certainly lucky and guided to have been able to go down this path. Here is to eternity! Love you Joey Still in love after 12 years- just keeps getting better! Love this guy!

Manicure

Who needs to go to a salon when you have a willing daughter to paint your nails? Last night Harlee begged me to let her paint my nails. She started by doing all light colors and then decided to brighten things up! I ended up with two white, a blue, a pink, and a black nail on my right hand. And on my left she did a cream, red, orange, pink, and silver. Very creative! I have to remind myself to let things go and let her enjoy these moments. My nails don't look perfect but I know that they were done with love! Thanks Harlee!

Superhero Camp

Yesterday Nash and Harlee had the opportunity to attend a Superhero Camp put on by a family in Grace's neighborhood. They got dressed in the superhero clothes and were so excited to go. When they got there they had to choose their superhero name and their superhero power. Harlee was "Hero Harlee" and her power was running so fast. Nash's name was "Nuclear Nash" and he had the ability to blow things up. What a fun day! So grateful for all these fun opportunities they get to enjoy!

She's doing it...

Harlee has been practicing a TON and she is now riding a two wheeler! I am so proud of her. When she puts her mind to something, she will not stop until she can do it. I love that about her. She has been wanting to ride without training wheels for a while know! She is a big girl and growing up way to fast. Pretty soon I will be posting about her getting her learner's permit. So lucky to be this little gal's mom!

He's a Childs!!

It can be said that the Childs LOVE Café Rio. We go there almost every Saturday and everyone is happy about it. Tag fits right in! Last night we fed him rice, beans, and pork and he could not get enough. He would have eaten all night if I let him. Guess he can stay!! * Had to post the first pic- such a funny expression on that cute boys face!

"Girl Time"

Harlee was so lucky on Friday to enjoy a little girl time with her friend Grace. Grace's mom, Martie, took them to lunch at Firehouse subs. Then she took them to the beauty college where they got their hair done and a manicure. Both for just $10! They looked so cute and had the best time. Then after being pampered, they got to enjoy some ice cream at Thanksgiving Point. What a fun day! So grateful to Martie for inviting Harlee to enjoy this fun with Grace. I think that Harlee and I need to go there and have a girls night!

Another tooth gone!

For about two weeks Harlee has had two wiggly front teeth. Over the last day or so, one of them was barely hanging on. She grabbed a paper towel and started working on it! It did not take long and she was able to pull out her tooth. I am guessing within a week she will lose the other. She looks so cute! I hate it though because losing teeth is just another testament that she is growing up! I just want to freeze time and enjoy this time when she really loves me and wants to spend time with me. Before long she will be a teenager and not sure she will feel the same way!

Getting brave!

Tag is still not walking and he is almost 16 months old. His physical therapist feels like he could do it but he is just not confident. She really wants him to be walking by the time he is 17 months so we have turned up the practice. Joey and I sit across from each other and he walks from one to the other. As soon as he makes it across the way, he turns around awaiting the claps and praise. He is too funny! All of the other kids love to have Tag try to walk to them. It is so cute. We are so proud of you Tag! I just know he will be walking soon! *Harlee kept trying to get a picture of him walking. Since he would go so fast, the pictures are a little blurry!

Let the fun begin...

We are kind of in a time crunch to get Gray potty trained by the time preschool starts in September. I am kind of having my doubts as to the success of this because Gray is only 3 but we are going to give it our best shot. We are starting with sitting on his Cars 2 potty once a day. I give him a ton of drinks while he sits. No success yet but hopefully it is right around the corner. Joey told him he would take him to Walmart to buy a toy if he goes. Gray decided he wants Lightening, Mater, and McMissle! Good luck to me!

Scary hair!!

Yesterday when I was getting ready Nash was hanging out with me in my bathroom. He was staring at me and then said "Your hair scares me when it is down. I want you to put it up in a ponytail." Hmmm- so glad I take all the time to get ready. I should just throw my hair up in hopes I am not frightening my Nash. Gotta love the honesty of a 4 year old!

Science Camp

At the beginning of the summer I started to worry that I would be hearing "I'm bored" a million times a day. So I signed them up for a science camp through the school district. It is for two weeks, M-F from 8:30- 12:30pm. The kids were looking forward to fun experiments and I was looking forward to a little structure. When Luke came home the first day he said "Mom- that is just like school!". Needless to say he was not happy. Thankfully for both of our sakes, it has gotten better. They finished day 3 of 10 today and have not complained again. I am so grateful that they get to have these fun experiences while learning along the way!

Cousin Time!

Nathan and Kaydan were able to come up and stay for a few weeks. It was so fun! Even though they are all different ages, they play so well together. This is besides the time when the older boys rigged Harlee's dolls to make them seem alive. They were trying to scare the little ones. It worked! My kids would not go down to the basement for a week! So grateful that all these cousins get to grow up together. Such a blessing.

3 long days and then the answer came!

On Wednesday night Luke and I searched the house for Gray's Lankie! He loves his blanket and struggles at night without it. We are so lucky to have such a huge house but it takes quite a while to search for a little blanket in such a big space. After looking in each room we still could not find the blanket. This search continued each day as well as Gray's sad requests for his blanket. This morning I sent a text to my friend Kelly who bought the blanket for him 3 years ago. I know her sister in law made it and I wondered if she could make him another just like it. While I waited to hear back I kept searching. I decided to tear apart the couch since they had taken all the pillows off on Wednesday. I had done this already on Thursday but thought I would check one more time. I took all the pillows off and could not find it. I decided to take this opportunity to clean out all the garbage the kids hide in the cushions. As I was vacuuming I was praying that I would find the blanket. I had a strange thought to look inside of the big cushions. They each have a zipper to make them easy to throw in the washer. I unzipped two and no luck. The third pillow I checked contained the much loved blanket. I could not believe it! I would have never thought to check those pillows and I just KNOW that I was guided by a loving Heavenly Father. The look on Gray's face when I showed him the blanket was priceless. I am so grateful we were able to find it and look forward to a much happier Gray at bedtime tonight!

Fourth of July

We were lucky to have Jamie's family join us for a bbq and fireworks on the 4th. It was so much fun to spend time with them. We had some yummy food, hung out for a while, then headed to our usual spot to watch the Thanksgiving Pointe fireworks. By the time they started, Tag and Gray were asleep in our laps but the other kids loved watching them. From where we were sitting you could see the whole valley and so many fireworks going off. It was so pretty. So grateful for family time and so grateful for all those who fight to make our freedom possible. *whenever I see a picture of our family I wonder how we got here. Never thought we would have so many children, so many blessings.

Our Fourth of July Tradition

As many 4th of July's passed, we decided to go hiking. We got the kids ready and went back to Battle Creek Falls in Pleasant Grove. Last year Tag was so little and we only made it part way. This year we were determined to make it all the way to the falls and they did not disappoint. Besides a few "hold me's" and "I'm so tired's" we had a really good time. The kids loved getting wet and playing in the falls. Tag wanted to jump right out of our arms and join his older siblings in the water. As we hiked back I walked at the back of the pack. I looked ahead of me and saw all of my most important blessings. I was a little overwhelmed in that moment at how lucky I am to have all of them. I love these times we get to enjoy together as a family. So lucky!

Our New Car- A YuKon Denali XL

So we were kind of forced into making a decision to purchase a new car but I think we were guided to the perfect new vehicle for our family. We test drove a few and the Denali was our favorite. Once we decided on the kind of car we wanted, in true Childs form we searched for a deal! The one we test drove was $24K and we found one in Richfield Utah with the same amount of miles for $15K! We actually like the color and the interior so much better on this one. So Joey drove down one Saturday and loved it. We got the loan and drove down the following Saturday to pick it up! The people we bought it from were so nice and we just are so excited. I was so nervous at first because it is so big, but I am loving it now. The kids love it too! Let's see how long we can keep it clean! I truly feel that so many blessings have come out of this accident and I just know that Heavenly Father is watching over our family. We are so blessed!

The perks of living in the mountains...

I have posted before pictures of our little friends that wander down the mountain to hang out in our backyard. We have had deer, a turkey, many squirrels, snakes, and now bunnies! The kids are so excited. I would so take a bunny over a snake any day! So cute!

Friendship Bracelets are back!

A couple weeks ago we were going to enjoy a little craft family time. We were going to buy supplies to make the cool new bracelets that are so in right now. Well, we were on our way when we got in our car accident. So on Wednesday we decided to try again. The kids were so excited to make these but they were very complicated. Can you guess who made each of them a bracelet? Mom of the year!! The kids loved them for about a minute- a little shorter than the hour it took me to make each one! So funny the trends that keep coming back. I should have just kept mine from so many years ago! Could have saved me some time!!

Is Today Tomorrow?

"Is today tomorrow?" This is a question I get several times a day from our Nashie. He loves to talk and he is always asking tons of questions. This question is so hard to explain to him in a way he will understand. Joey took him with him to wash the car and the whole time he was asking Joey about this concept. What a smart and curious little boy!