Happy Birthday Isabelle!

Today is our Isabellee's birthday. She turns the big 6 today. She has been waiting for this day all summer. We have been counting down forever. We started her morning off with Ben's 5K and Jarrett's mile race. Poor girl, she was so patient. Her presents waited for her at home while we watched Jarrett race and waited for Ben to receive his first place medal for his age group. She did get to go last night with "Grandpa and Grandma in the mountains" for her special day. They took her to dinner and then went and let her pick out her present. She picked a real camera. Then they took her to Mantua to go on a picture walk where she took pictures of everything possible. This morning she chose cereal for her breakfast. Then later we are going over to Grandpa Curtis's for a swimming party and cake and ice cream. She is just excited it is finally her day.

As I think over the last six years, first of all I can't believe how fast they have gone. She was the best baby. Very mild tempered and a wonderful sleeper (still is). Isabellee is a lover of animals, her favorites are her cats. If you can't find her she is usually out playing with and taking care of them. She definitely knows how to push both of her brothers buttons. She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. She is very much like her daddy in so many ways. She is very particular who she lets into her little life and who gets to see the special amazing person she is. I feel so blessed that she is my daughter. I love the special moments she curls up next to me for a love and her "I love you". She is a thinker and does well at everything she tries. She also has the girl attitude down pretty well. You do something annoying and you can tell just by the way she looks at you. I love when she wants to help me, because she jumps right to it and she is always humming or singing while she works. She is my little helper. Isabellee thanks for being our girl. You definitely keep us all on our toes, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Happy Birthday princess.

Our Summer So Far.....

First of all I can't believe we only have one more week left in July. This summer has flown. We haven't done anything quite as exciting as last summer. Our summer has consisted of a trip to the dinosaur park, lots of visits to various parks, swimming (one of my favorites this year), and swimming lessons.
A new thing this year is that Ben has taken up running. He ran a "The Dam Race" up in Mantua last weekend, it's a 5 mile race around the lake. He did really well for his first race he places 24th out of 200. Then this morning he ran a 5K right here in Tremonton and came in 3rd in his class (15th overall). Jarrett rode his bike in the same race and came in 3rd. Next weekend Ben will do the 5K in Garland for Wheat and Beet days, then in the middle of September he is going to do the Top of Utah run in Logan. That's something new for us.
I thought I would do a quick overview of our summer up to this point. Not a lot happened in June, so we will skip right to the 4th of July. We spent it with Ben's family in Riverside. They do a little family reunion of sorts, you go up the night before and are supposed to camp out on Pete and Dari's lawn(thankfully I have gotten out of that every year). Then the next morning they have a breakfast with a softball game following. Then you get to entertain yourself for the rest of the day until about 4 when the big parade starts. This year they had a theme for our float and it was a rock band theme. Then we went to the park and had some hamburgers. At dark we watched fireworks. (They were better than other years.)
The next event was Little Valley Days in Mantua last weekend. We started at 7:00 am with Ben's run, then the kids stayed with my mom for the parade while Ben and I went to Madalyn Fletcher's funeral. What do you say when she was only 2 1/2 and had suffered so much this past year. I have never understood why a child has to suffer like she did and to watch Terrell and Trish has been heart wrenching. Our heart and prayers go out to them and their boys. At least we have the knowledge that Maddy is in a better place free from her pain. After the funeral we headed back to my mom's. There my brothers, sister-in-law, Jarrett, Isabelle, McGregor, and Ben played on the slip-n-slide. They had a ton of fun. Later we cooked and ate a dutch oven dinner, then at dusk we roasted marshmallows and watched some dang good fireworks from my parent's back yard.
This week we celebrated Jodi's birthday with her. She came a stayed a couple of days. My kids love when Grandma Jodi comes. Today we will celebrate the 24th with a pool party at Curtis's and eat some smoked turkey and pork.
It has been a normal summer, but we have had some good times. We are now getting ready for Jarrett to start his first season of tackle football. Isabelle will turn 6 next Saturday, McGregor will be 3 on the 31st, and in the next 6 weeks we will finally get to meet our new member to our family. Which leads me to this poor boy's name. We don't have one and would love some suggestions. If anyone has one please let us know.

What A Weekend!!!

So much happened this weekend!! The first and most important was Jarrett got baptized Saturday morning. He has been waiting for this a long time. He didn't care about parties or gifts, he just wanted to be baptized. I always have thought that the parents really decide a lot of the times for kids when they are eight if they are getting baptized or not. I am here to tell you that this was all Jarrett's decision. He wanted this more than anything this year. He has such a strong spirit and an amazing testimony. I had the opportunity to speak at his baptism ( I dread speaking in public). The best part about speaking was I was on the stand and could look down at Jarrett and Ben dressed in their white clothes and see the excitement on Jarrett's face. It was a Stake baptism so their were four other kids that got baptized that day, but we had our own special time at the font and our own special room for his confirmation. Everything went so smooth and fast. I am so thankful for Jarrett and the person that he is. He is such a special boy and I feel so unworthy most of the time to have the job as his mom. He teaches me so much everyday. I am also so thankful that Ben was able to baptize and confirm Jarrett. Ben is such a strong spirit and person. I am so thankful for our little family. We have definitely had our share of trials these last couple of years the harder ones have been more recent, but how thankful I am for the gospel and the still small voice of the Holy Ghost. He has helped me throughout my life and guided me in the direction I need to take my life. I am so thankful for everyone who could make it for Jarrett's baptism. A lot of our family was out of town, but we had a good turn out. I am thankful for Jarrett's Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Friends (thanks to Nolan, Cody, Dillon, and Katie who were here from Reno), his church leaders, and His 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Esplin who took time out of their busy Saturday's to share in this special day for Jarrett. After the baptism we went back to our house for cake and ice cream. YUMMY!!

Part 2 to Saturday: They were having an Air Show at Hill Field and Jarrett and I wanted to watch the Thunderbirds. So Ben being the nice guy, he is took us down to fight the crowds(He hates all the people you have to fight at these). The great thing this year was that my mom got us special passes. We got to park our car at a special parking lot and then we road a shuttle right up to the flight line. Our section was front and center. We got to see the pilots of the Thunderbirds(the kids got some autographs). We watched them prepare the planes and taxi onto the runway. It was pretty cool. I just sat there and watched them fly and thought how great it is to be an American and be able to do all the great things because of our freedom. Those pilots are pretty amazing with what they can do with an aircraft. It was a fun time. The bad part was our line to catch the shuttle back to our car was right by the porta potties. They decided to start cleaning them while we were standing there. The buses were so slow in getting there and we couldn't stand the stink anymore so we just walked back to our car. We finished with going to dinner with my family and headed home.

Sunday: We had to leave our house by 8:00 which we didn't get out of there until 8:25 SHOCKER!! We were supposed to be in Franklin, Idaho by 9:00 for Ben's stepsister's babies blessing. It normally takes a good 45 minutes to get there, but after 80 mph the whole way on back roads and hitting a pheasant we made it just as they were saying the opening prayer. Then after Maddy's blessing we headed to my sister Susie's in Hyrum for Hunter's blessing. I'm gonna be honest it is tough to sit through two sacrament meetings with three kids. Both of the dad's did a great job on the blessings and the food after was great. So we feel as though we were on the run since about 8:00 am Saturday morning until about 4:30 Sunday, but it was a great weekend. Thanks to everyone for everything.

Jarrett's 8 !!!!

I can't believe our Jarrett is 8 years old today. As I have looked back this morning to the day he was born until now I feel blessed to have him as my boy. He was so perfect the minute he entered this world. I will be the first to admit that he was not easy as a baby, but who knows if that was him or me being a first time mom. A lot of things that haven't changed is that his socks still drive him crazy if they don't fit him just right along with his pants, he hates his hands dirty, he loves his uncle Daniel and Cameron, his big heart, and his contagious laugh. Jarrett is one of the most tender hearted souls I have ever been around. He is always worrying about others and their feelings. He is such a big helper to me with his younger siblings. He loves to skateboard, wrestling with his daddy, Isabelle, and McGregor, riding his bike, swimming, and he can't wait for football to start this fall. What to say, but that I love him so much and I feel so privileged to be his mommy. Thanks Jarrett for the last eight years and all the memories. You make everyday better with your smile, laugh, and your loves. I love you!!! Happy Birthday!!!

Kindergarten Graduation!!

Well today our Isabellee graduated from kindergarten. It's hard to believe that this school year is almost over. And the answer is yes to your question, "Did mommy cry?". We will blame that on life right now and being pregnant. The program was really cute. They sang about seven songs and then they got to walk up and get a hat and their diploma. Isabelle was so cute and she knew her songs so well. She is pretty sad that she doesn't get to keep Mrs. Bowcutt and Jeriann for her teachers next year. They have done a wonderful job and Isabelle loves them. We will get her excited for her new teachers next year. We figured out today that Isabelle will be in the graduating class of 2021!! Yikes!! The next scary thought is Jarrett will be in the class of 2019, that is only 10 years from now. We all know how time flies. Kind of scary for mommy.

Happy Birthday!!

Our May has been crazy!! But thankfully we get to slow down today and celebrate Ben. Thirty-two years ago today the world was made a better place because Benjamin C was born. I wish I could find some good pictures from when he was younger to post, maybe later. Anyway I wanted everyone to know it was his special day today. If you read this Ben have a great day and know that I love you and I am glad I get to be here to celebrate with you. I just want you to know that I am thankful for you and I know that life has its ups and downs, but I am glad I get to share my life with you. Happy Birthday!!

Wicked

Yes, I went to see the Broadway show Wicked last night. My mom got all of us girls tickets for Christmas and we have been patiently waiting for 4 months for this night to come. I have never been to anything like that before and to tell you the truth I wasn't to excited. We went and ate at the Lion House Pantry and then headed to the Capital Theatre. We got to our seats and started to hear rumors that the Prophet and his wife were at the show. So we started looking around and right below us sat President Monson and his wife, then we started looking down the row and there was President Uchtdorf. Pretty cool to see them there and to see them that close. I didn't know exactly what it was going to be like, for one thing I hate The Wizard of Oz. This show is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the good witch. It was an amazing show. These people could sing. I have never heard such beautiful and powerful voices. My favorite was the Wicked Witch of the West, her voice was amazing. The story was so good and you could learn a lot from it. The Wicked Witch wasn't really wicked, she was trying to do good and so many people misunderstood her. It was a great evening and I would love to go to another show again sometime. If anybody has the opportunity to go and see Wicked I would highly recommend seeing it.