minnesota

a.k.a. one million pictures.

again.

here is my hot hubby driving us to minnesota.

me. so excited to see family and friends.the girlies. they both got to sit in the back!

mallory felt like such a big girl.cute kale. what is sweet face!sleeping beauties.a fabulous photo to show to any boy who wants to date her.

we are gathering ammo already.

we got to stay with our favorite friends, allison and dave and their two kids, adam and emily.

these kids LOVE eachother. adam and emily have made several appearances on this blog.

i use to watch the kids while allison worked and they are the girls best friends.

it was so cute to see them get to know eachother again. of course, right when we got there the party begun. we had pizza and another family, the jacksona came over. allison and dave have an awesome house with a great backyard, so the girls where in heaven. kids and grown ups playing and eating outside.adam with the chex mix we couldn't get enough of. allison i still need the recipe!!more ammo.the little girls at the park. we went back to the "mom's group" park we use to ALWAYS go to. it was so fun and nice to get out and play. we still love that park.
so cute. love the glasses.

liv and adam. i don't think they fought once!

i just love that face.

thanks again to the pattberg's for finishing the basement just for us! lol. it was so nice to see you again and you were the best hostess/host. thanks for everything! we miss you already.

we also got to stay a couple days with uncle greg. he was also a fabulous host and we had the best time with him. mallory is still asking where uncle greg is!

mallory had greg read to her every spare moment. thanks greg.

we got to see the ehlerts too. after a fabulous sunday dinner, the kids (including brett) went out to jump on the tramp and play. xander ended up pulling out a little pool, turning on the hose and filling up the pool. he is such a boy. liv and mal were loving it, needless to say they got all wet and then brett threw them in the pool. him and joey even ended up in the little pool. it was very entertaining to watch!

we had a great time in minneapolis and want to go back already. it was so surreal for me to be there. i felt so at home in wendy's house, our old neighborhood and old ward that i thought our life in indy might just be a dream. i thought we could just go back to our place in coon rapids and life would be normal. not so...but it felt like we never left. we also got to go our old ward and a ward party. it was so nice to see everyone and get caught up on all the new happenings. minneapolis is definitely a place we would move back to. thanks again to allison and dave and greg for letting us stay with them. we had a GREAT time.

to end some sweet pictures of our babies.

happy anniversary!

we have been married for 6 years on may 31st. i can't believe it has been that long. it feels like yesterday but i don't really remember life without brett or our 3 little ones.

6 years of marriage.

3 super cute kids.

lived in 4 different states.

moved 11 times.

yikes. can't wait to see what is ahead...

i saw this and thought it was fun, so here you go.

1) What was your wedding date? may, 31, 2003

2) How long from "I will" to "I Do" 4 months

3) Where were you married? church in orem, later sealed in the good old provo temple

4) What were your wedding colors? purple and silver (ps, brett HATES purple he only told me this after a couple years of marriage because it is my favorite)

5) Who was in your wedding party? just us. we have so many friends and are so popular that we just couldn't choose! lol.

6) Honestly, could your bridesmaids REALLY have worn the dress again? refer to above

7) Did you LOVE your gown? LOVE IT. still. i randomly tried on dresses with my mom in canada before we were even engaged and found IT that day. IT was $2500!! a little to spendy for me so i tried to find another one in provo. found one i liked but still thought about the ONE in canada. i told my mom about the dress situation and being the mom she is, she told me i better call the place in canada and see if they still had it. THEY DID. 60 % off. needless to say, IT was on picked up and paid for that very day.

8) Flowers: real or silk. real and beautiful.

9) Reception: Full meal or Calling reception? calling reception with a baked potatoe bar. i didn't even have one! i don't know if brett did either.

10) Dance or no dance? no dancing

11) What would you have done differently? had it outside! carried butler, you were right.

12) Any disasters? the cake. we didn't pick it up in time so carrie, our friend/photographer got a fake one from macey's bakery. don't mention this to brett because he is still upset about it. maybe for our 10th anniversary i will surprise him with a cake.

13) Best Gift you received? mom's amazing quilt and cash money!

14) Most Memorable moment that day? my dad walking me down the aisle, brett crying LIKE A BABY when a walked down the aisle and our first kiss as husband and wife. one of brett's best memories is travis one of his best friends coming all the way from california to be there.

i don't usually get mushy on here but i just wanted to say to my handsome husband that

i love you.

simple as that.

i am so glad we found eachother, were crazy enough to get married and have these kids! i wouldn't want to go though life with anyone else but YOU.

thanks for all you do for me and our babies.

LOVE YA BABE!

may madness

*warning* lots of photos

we have been a little busy lately doing all sorts of stuff and nothing all at the same time.

we are addicted to garage sales on saturday mornings. one saturday we were up, ready and out the door by 8:20 AM!

we have found hungry, hungry hippos and some other games, some other toys, some frames for my crafting and the favorite 2 items,

"play place"

picnic table for 25 cents
olivia has started to draw really cute PICTURES, not just "coloring" but actual pictures. this is a the spider she killed that morning.

painting lots of little fingers and toes!

swimming!

playing

sleeping. kale is getting so big. he is all smiles and loves his daddy.

feeding the ducks and geese

a visiting bird. WEIRD!

a little bit of potty training! how did she get SO big. mallory has had a major growth spurt lately. she really isn't my baby anymore. good thing since i already have another one.

getting pictures in their cute shirts! thanks amy, we love them.

playing in the rain at a birthday party

green baths

we have been busy.

brett has been working, doing young men's stuff and going to the gym. i have been cleaning, crafting, blogging, playing and loving these kids.

we are also going on a little trip this weekend to MINNEAPOLIS. we are so excited to see everyone we love and miss there.
hope you are all having a great summer.

IT IS SO HOT ALREADY!

I HATE HOT!

this is what happens when you have 3 kids- 3 and under!

the poor kid rolls over

BY HIMSELF

in the front room while your putting the other two to sleep.isn't he cute

my own etsy shop?

YES!

i finally finished all my hooter hiders!!

i think they definitely got better as a sewed but they are all quite cute...

if i do say so myself. i had to make up some steps as i went so

i am happy with the results. question:

do you start a craft/project and then can't start anything new until that craft/project is done. i have about a million things i could do,

but if i have that one project that i should finish, i just can't start anything else!

do you do the same?

working out

brett is trying new things in the workout area.

he really likes these new weights.

these sweet girls sure do love their daddy.

whenever i make them do something they don't want to do or they have to go to the naughty corner while brett is at work, they cry for their daddy. i guess we are playing good cop, bad cop.

blue, through and through

i found the girls doing this in their bedroom the other day.

i almost shed a tear! first because i love my girls know the cougar fight song (ok, just part of it). second, the thought i may be raising some cheerleaders! ha, ha!

when we left utah (3 years ago, i can't believe it has been THAT long), i was sure i wouldn't miss a thing but my family and friends.

boy, was i wrong.

i want to go to temple square and just be there, in december with all the lights, at conference time with all the people, in the spring with the beautiful flowers.

i want to go to "the BYU". i miss the bookstore, the creamery, the students, the traffic (just kidding). i miss BYU and it's atmosphere. isn't that funny.

i miss the mountains and canyons. i want to go for a drive in the canyon and take a hike. i want to see bridal veil falls. i want to know where i am going. lol.

most of all i miss my family. i want to do girls night with sally and watch a movie and have some fun treats. i want to see my girls light up when they see sally and the kitty's, oh and brian too! i want to see jeremy and janie cute and married. i want be there for janie's graduation. i want to go to erin's house and talk and talk and talk not knowing that 3 hours have passed. i want to have porter and olivia be good friends again. i want to have dinners with kristina and eric. i want to go to gutter butt (isn't that what you call it?) and have crafty nights with heather and ann.

i have such great memories of utah and my family there. i just wanted to do this post so you would all KNOW how much i miss you and to tell you to LOVE IT UP!!

you have all got it good being in that area plus having family around. LOVE EACHOTHER and the time you all have together.

don't know what you've got til it's gone...

everybody sing with me... "pave paridise and put up a parking lot."

first i must say, i am both a momma's AND daddy's girl. i call them ALL the time. atleast a couple times a week to chat, for cooking advice and all sorts of things. the problem is...these two are in EUROPE! i am so jealous. i have gone to call them about 50 times a day!

i don't know how much longer i can take them being away.

REALLY!

janie is updating her blog and telling us DYING to know what is going on. thanks janie.

mom and dad, i hope you are having the time of your life

BUT

please come back soon!
WE LOVE YOU!

update.

getting cuter and cuter. this boy is adorable. he is 3 months yesterday. brett and i just can't get enough of him. he is cooing and gooing and making all sorts of noise. laughs and is ticklish. sleeps for 6 hours then eats then sleeps for 5 more hours!! he is still on meds for an ear infection but is doing much better. we just love having him in our family. this picture is from feb.
today. look how much he has grown!stinky but very sweet toes.

the girls.they have been playing SO well together lately. it has been SO nice. i don't have to hear mallory crying every couple minutes.

this is them watching a movie with popcorn. their favorite treat.

they are getting so big!

haven't been up to much lately, just the normal day to day.

i am a little nervous about the swine flu, so we are kind-of keeping to ourselves and not going out too much!

how did this happen?

i don't literally need an explanation * but do you ever look at your children and think

"how did this happen".

(the other question i love is:

when is their mom going to come pick them up?!

i would really like to go back to sleep.)

i remember being in 2nd grade and wendy (my sister) was graduating.

i thought- i will NEVER graduate, never! it seemed like it would take

F-O-R-E-V-E-R

to be a senior (grade 12 for you canadians).

look at me now.

i am the big 3-0

married

3 kids

YIKES!

i still feel like i am 17.

then i look at these sweet little people i hang out with everyday and can't believe they are:

1. alive

2. so cute

3. exceptional bright

4. fun to be around (most of the time)

5. MINE

i am the mother. me. are you sure? i remember the first time i went to pick up the babysitter and i didn't know what to do. i have never been the babysitter picker-upper. i was always the one being picked up. how can i be the mom?