& the craziness continues... Girls camp & swim lessons

The day that we got back into town from Mexico, we went to Mom's house so that we could see her sisters that were down here visiting, ViAnne, Johanna, & Clara. It was so fun to get to chat & see them- they are all such sweet ladies & amazing examples of sisters/ mothers!

The next morning I went to girls camp with my ward. Well technically, we did a service project in town & then went to Camp LoMia the next morning. Anyway, on Wednesday we went to the temple at 6:30 am & did service projects. my group were 1st years and we got to pull weeds/ plant flowers around the temple grounds- it was a beautiful morning & a really fun experience!

 Like I said before, the next day we headed up to camp & were there for 2 nights/ 3 days. It was fun... EXHAUSTING... but fun! My girls are all very sweet & the other cabin moms/ stake staff from my ward that were there are all awesome! I had a blast visiting with them & getting to know them better (& laughing until we cried over stupid things because we were so tired)!!

 Eileen took the boys to Show Low with her after Mexico & watched them while I was at camp. They both got sick while they were up there (poor Eileen!) and she brought them to Payson on the last day of camp so we wouldn't have to drive all the way to Show Low. They both had strep throat & Roman had an ear infection :( no fun! Thankfully, antibiotics work wonders & they were both feeling better in no time!

 

 They started swim lessons this week... the first day was rough for both of them! They both cried through most of their lesson. The 2nd day, Roman did MUCH better & has done great ever since! He's a good little swimmer, just needs to work on getting his technique down a little better :)

Sterling, on the other hand, HATES it! He screams throughout his entire lesson & tries to flee the water any chance he can get! I'm hoping he'll get more comfortable over these next couple weeks, it's so sad to see him so upset!

¡¡Mexico!!

We just got back from our annual week long trip to Mexico. It was heaven! I didn't think I took nearly as many pictures as I should have (I was too busy enjoying my family & the perfect weather), but it turns out I took plenty!! I'll let the few pictures I took speak for themselves!

 Jump!!

   Roman got a new quad right before this trip & loved getting to ride it on the beach!

 

 Family photo!!

 

 On our last day, we all went on a long ride way down the beach- I was sooo nice! Here's all the boys lined up & ready to go!

 Sterling fell asleep on the drive :) sweet kid!

We literally did nothing but spend time as a family at the beach, and it was awesome!! So relaxing and so fun to make memories with our boys! Until next year, adios Mexico!

A little bit of summer fun

I'm starting to notice Roman getting bored. How? because he does naughty things! For example:

Coloring on his & Sterling's faces! But, I couldn't really get mad because he was so excited to show me what he had done & exclaimed, "Look mom! We're like clowns in the circus!"

Or emptying his entire closet! This was NOT funny, & I did get mad, but I had the perfect punishment for the crime... I made him clean it all up, ALL BY HIMSELF!

Granted, I had to sit in the room & direct him step-by-step, and it took him several hours, but he did it! I think the message sank in, too because he kept saying, "Mom, I not ever gonna do this again! This is so totally hard work!"

 After he started getting so stir crazy/ mischievous at home, we decided we should probably take them to go do something fun! So we spent a day at Basha pool- We've also gone to the library a few times & that helped with the boredom!

 We're leaving on vacation tomorrow, so hopefully he can stay out of boredom induced trouble for a while ;)

Fishing!

Roman has been on a fishing kick lately- he pretends to fish all over the house & has been dying to go for real! Thankfully, Anthon's friend, Justin, is an avid fisherman, so we had a family home evening together & went fishing! We just went to a local man-made lake where they stock the fish, hoping that Roman could catch something (because honestly, how boring is fishing if you don't catch anything?!)

 And boy, did he ever catch something! All the little boys caught a ton of fish & had a blast doing it!! I had fun just watching how excited they would get, sitting in the cool grass, & chatting with Corinne. It was the perfect night for everyone!

 

 Here are the daddy's with their little boys & fish!

It was such a fun night, watching the boys make childhood memories!! I'm pretty sure this is going to become a fun family tradition for us!

Summer is here!

Today was Roman's last day of preschool, and yesterday they put on a special program for us- it was DARLING! They sang 4 songs, played a song with bells, and each said a little line. This song was my favorite! Roman sings it all the time at home, but today was the first time hearing it for real- it brought tears to my eyes!! So sweet!

 

his class. the little boy on the front row, left side is the other Roman in his class. They're pretty good buddies!

Roman saying his part! He said, "Here is a strong snap dragon- As big, and as brave as Dad!"

 Roman with his teacher, Miss Arlene. She's amazing!!


I'm so proud of my boy! He has learned so much this year- he can write his name, count to 20, knows the days of the week, months of the year, and all the colors & shapes. He's learned the Pledge of Allegiance, a ton of cute songs/ poems, and has made the cutest projects that will probably turn me into a pack rat because I don't know how I'll ever be able to throw any of it away! Roman is such a smart boy & I can't wait to see how much he learns in his next year of preschool.... but until then, I'm going to enjoy our summer off together!!

PS- In other, not so happy, news the turtle has been missing for probably 3 weeks now- the boys some how lost him in the back yard. Well, today we found him... dead :(. He was in the trunk of Sterling's tricycle & the poor thing must have cooked to death! Ster's always hiding his favorite things in there, too bad the turtle was one of his favorite things!! And too bad we didn't think to look in there!! I think we're going to steer clear of the pets for a while!

Mother's Day

 It's been a lovely day! I've been able to enjoy my children & reflect on what a blessing it is to be a mother. We did our typical Sunday morning routine- got ready for church and Anthon & the boys made me some really sweet cards! I was SO excited for Roman to sing at church with the primary for the first time, but that didn't work out so well :(. He refused to even go up to the stage, so Anthon went up there with him but he didn't sing... he just cried the whole time! Ah, such is life with toddlers, I guess. They're unpredictable & won't do anything they don't want to do! There's always next year (& every year after that until he turns 12!) to hear him sing mother's day songs to me in sacrament.

Mom Had surgery this past week to repair her left hip& it went really well! It wasn't nearly as extensive of a procedure as they were anticipating & she's recovering really fast! We went to visit her this evening & she was so happy to see all of us! I'm really lucky to have such a great example of patience & faith unwavering for a mother!!

I don't ever want to forget how grateful I feel today to be a mother! It's such a noble calling, & I'm humbled to think how much the Lord trusts me to allow me to care for 2 of his tender little spirits! Next to being Anthon's wife, being a mom is the best part of my life!