weekend review

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

DAVE!!!

it's a good thing max and vivs were there to help blow out the candles!

it was a weekend filled with lots of good things!

here's a glimpse of our weekend adventures:

birthday shopping and celebrating dave's big 39th birthday!

we surprised him with a bike rack for his new car. 

our cousin, ben, came and spent a few night so he and max could attend chemistry camp.

they liked the camp, especially making elephant toothpaste.

they saved a bird from our neighbors cat.  actually saved it right out of the cat's mouth.

they built it a 'house' and tended it back to health...at least we hope, since it was gone the next afternoon.  

picked abe up from byu basketball camp.

i will give more details later, but he had a great time

and 

he made the all-star team!

 vivian and i have a slide quest this summer.  

so...we HAD to stop and play on this slide at vivian park.  

the park is actually named 'vivian park'

 picked sadie up from girl's camp!

sadie and abe both came home, then, they left again!

sadie, abe and kai spent the weekend at my parents' house--cousin basketball camp time!

(deets to follow soon)

went to dave's family renion.

it was great to see everyone and reconnect.  

i enjoyed watching max and dave play a little doubles tennis

plus..

vivs found another great slide!

can't forget:

we worked on the deck--dave made huge progress and it's almost finished. yay!

we also went to church.  dave helped me with sharing time-which i loved,  and vivian went to nursery!  max picked her up. they found me in the primary room and 

vivian excitedly said, "me, nursery, fun!"  

we all stopped and cheered for her because she was so brave!

and we watched the lego movie.  twice.

phewf!  what a weekend!

lovin' summer and i wish it would last forever.

campers

 missed these two crazy campers this week!

excited to get them home.

can't live without you

towards the end of the school year, dave and i decided to have an 'i can't live without you day'.  these started when we were first married.  we would both skip school and work and spend the day together. dave had the day off and since the little kids get toted around, following the big kids so much, we decided to have the day be about them.

we checked max out of school and went the movie max was waiting to see--rio 2

we were the only ones in the theater, which meant vivian danced in the aisle as much as she wanted.

we walked around and vivian followed dave dancing the whole way.

i love that she feels like life is happy and carefree enough to follow her dad and twirl, enjoying her dress and 'happy shoes'

 

 we picked up the older kids and we all headed to abe's game.  it's been a long time since we all went to a game together.  the car ride was pretty fun.

  we went to dinner and then to scheels to ride the ferris wheel.

(abe found a fellow abe)

 

 ...and vivian loved the aquarium.

 

calcaneus

kai broke his foot jumping off a deck...with a parachute.  

sheets do not make good parachutes.

luckily, abe got the whole thing on video, since they were making a vine.

kai broke his arm at the beginning of last summer- the thought of starting the summer off broken was devastating to him.

 he started to cry and anytime someone vivian really cares about starts to cry, she shares her blanket with them.  it is her act of selfless love, because she really loves her blanket.  putting it on his lap, she turned and ran over to me with a huge smile, as if to say, 'all better now, he has my blanket!'   it was actually a precious moment, even though kai was still bummed.

(thank goodness for that cute doctor helping him)

 kai doesn't complain at all even though i know it has been rough on him.

the world cup is saving him --something fun to think about!  

he is following it very closely. 

club soccer

max is saying goodbye to rec soccer

and sitting on his brothers benches

and wishing they would put him in...

 try-outs have been held and evaluations made...

all three boys made the teams they wanted, with great coaches.

max will play club soccer as a U9, and have his dad for a coach!

 this deserves a wispee (snow cones from sadie's work)

*all the boys right after the last try-out*

go team!!!

excited for good things ahead!

(kai's last game of the season-against the best team in the league.  kai took it to them.  he worked so hard and it was one of my all time favorite soccer games i have ever seen!)

mornings

it's summer,

who needs a shirt anyway?!

  

i love our summer mornings together.  

sadie and abe are both at camps this week, so it's been quieter and calm with three kiddos.  

we are striving to read the scriptures each morning together.  i am motivated because of this quote by sister reeves in the last general conference: (read her whole talk here)

Brothers and sisters, because I know from my own experiences, and those of my husband, I must testify of the blessings of daily scripture study and prayer and weekly family home evening. These are the very practices that help take away stress, give direction to our lives, and add protection to our homes. Then, if pornography or other challenges do strike our families, we can petition the Lord for help and expect great guidance from the Spirit, knowing that we have done what our Father has asked us to do.

i take it very seriously that i can petition the Lord for help and EXPECT GREAT GUIDANCE when i am doing my part.  i have also felt this and know it is absolutely true!  

i also loved this part of her talk:

Brothers and sisters, how do we protect our children and youth? Filters are useful tools, but the greatest filter in the world, the only one that will ultimately work, is the personal internal filter that comes from a deep and abiding testimony of our Heavenly Father’s love and our Savior’s atoning sacrifice for each one of us.

How do we lead our children to deep conversion and to access our Savior’s Atonement? I love the prophet Nephi’s declaration of what his people did to fortify the youth of his day: “We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, [and] we prophesy of Christ … that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”⁴

yesterday morning, dave read about families, and i had to capture the moment.  vivian, ready to participate (except a shirt), and the boys both snuggled up to dave.   i am so grateful for dave.  when he read the scripture in the book of mormon about husbands loving their wives and wives loving their husband, and parents loving their children, i asked max if he thinks we do that...max got 'SERIOUS EYES' and nodded a BIG yes!   dave also read the proclamation on the family and talked about the things that make a successful family.  kai was so happy to hear that 'recreational activities' was on the list and "now dad HAS to play soccer with us!"

it's romantic to see dave and remember him in high school and now look at him as my husband and the father of my kids. 

being a mom and a wife has made me a better person, more dependent on my Savior and Heavenly Father, and it's where I have felt the most joy and happiness.

it is not always easy...

actually, it's a lot of hard work
i don't do it perfectly-
but i love it.

singing time

 

 

 

vivian's first singing time/playgroup was a hit!

the color was yellow. she wore her yellow shoes...

 and danced the entire time.

  this just might have been her first "BIG KID" moment.

it hit me pretty hard that she is growing up.

she is smart, delightful, and that girl was made to dance!

road trip

we started the summer off with a road trip!

we spent a couple nights in st. george.

  

                         went to tuacahn and watched our second cousins in 'the wizard of oz'

they did a great job!

then we headed to arizona to listen to our other cousin, brandon, talk in church before leaving on his mission to new york.  it was a privilege to hear him speak. 

 abe and dave flew home so abe could begin his week at byu soccer camp.

he loved it!

my mom drove home with me.  i enjoyed spending the long drive home talking with her.

we made a quick stop in flagstaff for lunch.  

this is still kai and max's favorite pizza place! 

a road trip makes me feel like summer has started!

let the fun begin!