Our 4th!

We always start off our 4th going to my aunt Bea's house for the parade. They always make a delicious breakfast for ALOT of people. They are so great to open their home to us and make our fourth special.

Brielle Just couldn't help herself. Every time the band would come by she would just boogie! We all got a kick out of her.

Hope and Brynlee enjoying the parade. They were so cute together!

All the kids waiting for the candy. They were all so cute to share and make sure everybody got some.
Hope was a little hesitant at first, but then she got into it. She was afraid that she was going to drop her candy before she got it to daddys pockets.

We then head to the park for the little carnival.
Both of the girls loved this shark slide. Brielle Would scream the whole way down, she loved it, she just said she had to scream. It was a loud scream too.

Brielle loved these swings, but Hope was really afraid of them. She had a great time!


Then we were off to my Mom and Dads for a BBQ and for some fun in the water and sun!
All the kids in front of the water slide. They loved it!
Brielle was a little afraid of the water. She made us kink the hose so the water wouldn't get in her face. Silly girl.


Surprisingly the girls were still kickin by the time the fireworks rolled around. Josh and I on the other hand were exhausted.
They LOVED the fireworks and Hope kept saying the same phrase over and over, we just don't know what she was saying. As soon as they were over they both pulled a blanket over them and went to sleep. It was perfect.
Happy fourth of July!

Not much, but SOMETHING!

So my sisters are sick of looking at "what we've been up to.." and to be completely honest I have been so busy that I didn't even realize how long it has been since I did that post. It felt like yesterday.

I have been so busy helping with the 24th of July program (for my out of state friends, the 24th of July is a Utah state holiday celebrating when the pioneers came and settled in Utah!) My in-laws are putting on a program for the celebration and I have been busy helping, choreographing dances, and then teaching them. I have also been helping with the new Stansbury High cheerleaders. I have had fun, but been so busy every night. This month has just flown by, which I am grateful for.

We have done some fun things, but I haven't been in the mood to cart around my camera. Which has contributed to the lack of posting. A post just isn't a post without pics right? Here are some of the girls acting silly!
Our days have been so jammed packed and we have had so many late nights that more often than not Hope ends up like this at 6:00 and sleep well through the night!

We went boating with Ade and Neal (Joshs' sister and husband) And got Brielle back on the tube after her horrifying experience of being flipped off and under the water for like 10 sec. We bribed her with a toy, and Lan you will be happy to hear she picked out another one of those little pets. We were just happy to get her back on since she has been terrified of water since. Hopefully she will soon forget.

We also took the kids to the movie 'up'! We had a ball. It was fun for the whole family. I love that they are finally at a stage where we can do stuff like this.

Other than that we are just enjoying our summer, and it is great to have some time with family and to be together more often.

What Have we been up too???

We have settled to life in Utah. Josh started his internship and I think he actually enjoys it. So between that, laying carpet here and there, and remodeling the bathroom he has managed to stay pretty busy. I am just happy he is liking law stuff since I have only heard awful things for the past year....


The girls and I went to the zoo with my sis in law Amanda. It was a lot of fun and as usual I enjoyed it just as much as the girls.


Both of the girls loved this little turtle at the playground. Look at that little smile, it just melts my heart.These were by far my favorite animals this time. This little orangutan family was so cute. We sat and watch them for like 20 mins. We thought the big one was the mommy because we only saw these 2. The kids kept saying "no that is the daddy." It was so mean it wouldn't share the giant popsicle and kept swatting the baby away.

Sure enough the mommy came up from the bushes and gave the baby a great big hug. The kids were right it was definitely the daddy. Amazing how the gender roles don't change much even in animals....I am grateful josh is such a loving daddy.Hope once again, loved the giraffes. I think these are her favorite.


Hope is following in her sisters footsteps in more ways than one. SHE CUT HER HAIR! I was mortified. I was so angry I couldn't even talk, I knew I would scream. The funniest thing is she cut it with little tiny nail scissors. That is what I get for staying out til 2:30 in the morning and being a bum mom the next day.


We FINALLY got a new car. We loved our old one so much that when we found this one just like it, a year newer with half the miles, we couldn't pass it up. So though it looks like we have the same old car we really have a new love.

Brielle was so funny. She just kept saying little things like "this is my new car, but it is like my old one" The center console in the back seat is curious georges bed. She was thrilled to have it back.

My niece Jessica, and nephew Matthew graduated from high school last week. Congrats guys. We love you!
We went down to my brother in laws farm to see the baby pigs. Hope wanted to get into the cage with them, and felt so bad for the mommies. She kept pointing and saying "ouch"

I am so happy I only have to have one baby sucking on me at a time. Poor mama!Hope ended up stepping in like the only puddle around. It was a little green, and a little yellow, and a little brown so we are not sure what it was made of.
This is what her feet ended up looking like. Thank heavens for the hose right there, and thank heavens for rubber shoes!

As soon as we got here we started tearing into the bathroom. Fun, fun! We are slowly trying to get this worked out!

This is the most current picture. They were in the process of working on the plumbing, which left us with out water overnight. They thought they could do it and were really close they just had one small leak they couldn't get to seal....dang those leaks! We called the plumber and he was there to rescue us the next morning. Plumbing complete!

So, that has been our month of May. We are thrilled to be around family, but starting to miss our VA family.
We plan to keep filling our days with fun and work!

I just WANT to be a MOMMY!

When I was a little girl I always just wanted to be a mommy. I quickly learned that this was not an acceptable answer to many when they asked "what do you want to be when you grow up?"

I would reply "a mommy" and they would say "yeah, I know, everybody wants to be a mommy but what else...?"

I started replying "a nurse" just because that is what I thought I was supposed to say.

My sweet little Brielle has the same interest.

I always love when they interact with the TV and do and say what they want them too. Tonight was no different. While making dinner I heard the TV saying you could be anything you wanted. They then went on to list prestigious, adventurous jobs. Doctor, firefighter, a nurse, a lawyer, a vet...

I was delighted when they asked "What do you want to be"

Brielle SCREAMED "A MOMMY"

It is not the most glamorous job but it definitely has the best benefits!

We have been so sad...

We found out last week that our car, NOT JUST OUR CAR OUR POLLY, (yes I name our cars)
was TOTALED! Isn't it amazing that we drove the 900 miles from Nebraska??? We sure were praying hard!

We LOVED this car, and we HATE car shopping, but that is what we have been up too!

haPPy BIrThdAy BrIeLLe!

My baby turned 4! I still can't believe it! Yesterday we had a small party with Joshs family! We decorated the house and invited the fam over!



Brielle wanted a Mario cake! I know sounds strange, but her and Josh would play Super mario galaxy world every night when he got home from school. It was their special bonding time. It was very obvious that she loved it. When she told us she wanted a mario cake we realized she REALLY loved it! I had NO clue how to go about this. JOSH DID IT! We baked the cake in a santa claus pan and he did the rest to construct mario. I just said "Josh I need a picture" and he said "oh, I'll do it, I have a picture of Mario in my head!"

She had a little bit of a hard time blowing out the candles.......


But with a little bit of help from aunt Jodie, we had success!

She loved the cake! Good Job Josh!

Today we wanted to do something special, and since Wal-mart in Tooele didn't have the pig she wanted we had to take a trip to SLC! Aimee, Ava, and Tate came along for the ride and we had so much fun.
We went to liberty park to feed the ducks. We used to do this all the time, it is up by the U of U and we were in that area often! It was fun to go back.

Brielle was so happy to have her pig. Ava got one, because she loved Brielles puppies. but them Brielle loved her pig. Tooele didn't have one, so we bought a bunny and hoped that she would be excited about that. NO WAY! She definitly wanted the pig. So I get everybody all ready and drive 40 mins into SLC to go and find a pig for her and we were so excited when we found it. Until she said this:

"Yay, my daddy found a pig for me!"

He wasn't even with us! How does he get the credit???? He was thrilled!

This baby duck (or I guess it is probably a goose since it was with all the geese!) was so cute! It was so sad though NONE of the big geese would let it get any of our bread. There were so many geese we were surrounded! And it was SCARY when we ran out of bread, they would get pretty upset! Brielle informed me that she was bit twice, and those geese are mean!

Quote of the day from PRINCESS BRIELLE:

"Mom I miss Luke (a neighbor boy from VA). Now that I am 4 I can love him and kiss him."

SCARY! 4 going on 16, or hopefully 20!

Congratulations Cody and Alexa!

My LITTLE Brothers wedding was on Saturday! We are so happy for them! They are such a cute couple, and we are excited to have Alexa in the family!

Our sisterhood is complete! This is the last of the weddings on both sides of the family for us.

The little girls loved dancing and twirling their dresses!

Why wont our kids EVER look at the camera???

Hope was the leader in the dancing. She just couldn't help herself! She loved the piano and violin music.

Belle and Curious George weren't exactly on the guest list, but I guess they are considered family.

Dalton and Brielle Dancing. Dalton was not too happy, but was very sweet to indulge Brielles wishes!

All the nieces and nephews!
Dallin (13), Dakota (10), Kelsey (9), Marissa (6), Dalton (6), Payton (5), Brielle (4),
Devin (3), Lexi (2 1/2), Hope (2 1/2), Brynlee (18 mos.)