Slumber Party!

A few weeks back our friends' little girl, Ashlyn, had to be admitted to the hospital, so we got to take care of the older kids for a night. What a treat! Seriously! They were awesome and Liam was just in Heaven and couldn't believe that his friends actually go to sleep at our house! We rented the "Tale of Despereaux" and let them stay up late. Liam got to watch the movie in his sleeping bag with Alli and Ethan, but we had to make him go to his own bed to sleep because he would have kept the other kids up all night! He was just as thrilled the next morning to find that they were still at our house. How exciting!

They even got to play "Duck, Duck, Goose" and "What time is it, Mr. Shark?" in their PJs.

I love the action shot of Albus. He had fun, too.

After that we decided we needed a little outing, so we drove by GG and Grandpa-Great's house, where, of course, all the kids got cookies. There is no such thing as a stop there without a cookie.

Then we decided that the kids needed to do something special for their little sister, so we went to the mall to make a Build-a-Bear for Ashlyn. I love this picture of the kids. :)They worked hard on figuring out a name for the bear. I think Alli finally decided on "Rainbow Ashlyn" or something similar.The bear got THREE hearts with kisses from each one of them. Lots of extra lovies for Ashlyn.The kids were proud of their finished product. They were so excited to take it to Ashlyn. We put a little recording in it and Alli said "I love you, Ashlyn" and Ethan said "I hope you feel better, Ashlyn." It was very adorable. They are so sweet. And Ashlyn loved that. When we took it up to her, she smiled immediately when she heard their voices.

It truly was our pleasure to be able to help with the kids and have them overnight. We had a great time and they were AWESOME. They are so helpful and kind and played soo well together without any bickering whatsoever. I'm so grateful that Liam has such awesome friends that teach him how to be well-mannered, kind, caring and generous.

And I'm so happy that Ashlyn recovered quickly. She's back to her healthy self now. :)

Free Fishing Day!

A place here in town does a free fishing day for kids in June. Jake, Allison and Ethan have gone before and invited Wes and Liam to tag along. They got up nice and early to get a good spot. Unfortunately, Liam didn't catch a fish, but he had a blast at the festivities. He got to meet Nemo! He thought that was pretty cool.

The kids also got a bunch of cool, free stuff, including t-shirts and other fun stuff. They learned a bit about boat and water safety which was nice, too.

Alli and Ethan caught fish, so at least the kids had some success! Thanks for the invite, guys!

Father's Day Notes

I had to take a picture of a couple of Liam's notes that he made for Father's Day. The first one is for Wes. You can't see his name that he wrote, but he's getting a lot better. But, these are the things he told me about why he loves his daddy(with ZERO prompting or editing): *We go to church.

*He takes me to the potty so I don't poop in my pants.

*He helps me when I'm sick.

*He takes me to the Temple.

*He drives.

*He makes dinner for me.

*He makes me so happy.

*He buys me fruit snacks.

*He watches Despereaux with me.

Here is the picture he drew for Grandpa-Great's card. I was so impressed. I handed him a card and told him to draw a picture for Grandpa-Great and this is what he did. He even told me that it was Liam, GG, and Grandpa-Great.

My Sweet Boy is THREE!

Three years ago tomorrow, this is what we were doing. And here is my big three year old! I know I say it all the time, but where has the time gone?! I truly can't believe it. I love this little boy so much. I can't imagine how life was before him.

Here are a few new things that he's up to as a three year old:

*He loves letters, numbers, colors, shapes, the works.

*He's starting to sound out words and knows all the letters and their sounds.

*He loves to figure out how to spell people's names.

*He can write his own name.

*He is officially potty-trained!

*His current favorite character or show is Thomas the Train.

*He also loves The Incredibles.

*Fruit snacks are his absolute favorite treat.

*He also loves fruit in general.

*He loves the water and playing in the pool.

*He still loves bubbles.

*He loves finding bugs and looking at them through his magnifying glass.

*He is so sweet and kind to his friends.

*He loves to sing and perform.

What a wonderful boy he is! A true joy!

Every night on our birthday eve my mom used to tell us that she just wanted us to stay whatever age we were that year for one more you. I can now understand why she did, so I started the tradition with Liam.

"Can't you stay 2 just one more year?!"

He said No.

I think THREE will be a great year, just like every year thus far.

Happy Birthday, Liam!

Happy Father's Day!

I know this is late. Wes sort of got the short end of the stick this Father's Day, but it doesn't mean I appreciate him any less! I had a really big test and paper due, as well as started my new job the day after Father's Day, so it wasn't the best day, but I promised him I'd make it up to him.

At any rate, we did have a good day. We went to church and then he smoke BBQ'd ribs in the barrel. We had GG and Grandpa-Great over for dinner and enjoyed our evening. We then went up to the hospital to take some of Wes's delicious creations to Jake, so he could have a yummy meal for his bummer Father's Day since Ashlyn was in the hospital.

Wes truly has shown what an amazing father he is since I have been in nursing school. I mean, I knew before we even got married that he'd be a wonderful father, but he's truly gone above and beyond in this last year since I starting nursing school. I was telling someone the other day that I can't remember the last time I have cooked dinner. He does it all so that I can get my homework done so we can have some good quality family time together!

Liam adores him and looks up to him so much. They have a great relationship and Wes really takes the time to play and interact with him. They have a blast doing simple, everyday things together. Liam is so lucky to have such a wonderful father. I just love this picture of the two of them. I think it really sums up their relationship.

We love you!

Four Years

Yesterday Wes and I celebrated our FOURTH wedding anniversary. I can't believe it. I'm a blog slacker lately because school's been so crazy, but at least I'm posting it only a day late!
Last year, I posted these same photos, but it's really fun for me to go back and look at previous years and re post them. We've had a wonderful marriage so far and it keeps getting better. I'm so thankful for Wes and how hard he works for our family. We've been so blessed in our marriage, especially with the support of our wonderful family and friends. I feel like we've accomplished a lot in our first four years and can't wait to see what lies ahead for us. Here's a little trip down memory lane.

While we were engaged:Our beautiful wedding day:A few weeks after our wedding:A week or so after our first anniversary (our tradition is to take a photo at the temple each anniversary, and we did on our first anniversary, but it's only in hard copy form unfortunately. This will have to suffice): Our second anniversary:

Third Anniversary:Fourth Anniversary (I look a little scroungy after a very LONG clinical day, but at least it documents our life at this stage right?): We had a very nice anniversary dinner at our traditional anniversary restaurant: Red Lobster, thanks to G.G. and Grandpa-Great so graciously baby-sitting at the last minute. Unfortunately Liam got sick last night with Hand, Foot and Mouth and an ear infection, so that wasn't so fun... But, alas, that's what you get as parents right?! ;)

Happy Anniversary, Sweetie! Here's to the start of another wonderful year together. Four down... Eternity to go!

FHE with the Finlays

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before or not, but once a month we do an Family Home Evening night with the Finlays. Each month we switch houses. We always have a great time together and it's a good way to make sure we're having our FHE nights. The kids always love it. They love spending time together, eating together and doing a lesson together. It's so wonderful to have such good friends.

I just had to take a picture of the kids and their 'family tree.' I got this idea and modified it a little bit from Sofia's Primary Ideas Blog (see link on my list). Sofia has such great ideas on her blog!

This particular lessons was on how to make our families happy families. The kids talked about the different things we can do to help each other, make each other happy and what happens as a result of being kind and helping each other. The branches are the family members, the sun is the Savior, the rain is our testimonies, the leaves are the things that we can do for each other and the fruit that grows as a result of helping is all the wonderful, happy times and memories that our families can create. The kids did such a great job with this activity and had a beautiful (and not so artistic--not my strength, sorry!), plentiful tree at the end. I love how they think about each answer so carefully and really try to apply the principles we talk about. What wonderful kids!