Leda turns 7!

The morning of her birthday she exclaims, "MOM! Today I'm 7 1/2!"

Uhhhh, no. Just seven, my dear.

She's been so excited to turn seven, we were ALL glad when the day finally came!

We celebrated with a family party the night before her birthday. Seems kinda lame that we resort to Chuck E Cheese for most of our children's birthdays...but hey, we had a groupon (cheap) and Leda was BEGGING to go. So a night with Chuck it was! And it didn't disappoint. Our kids are at an age where they can run around solo and the adults can chat and have a good time, too. Win/win.

Aunt B & Uncle Rob bought Leda some time in the ticket blower. What a hit!

She requested a Mermaid cake this year and I had fun running with it!

We really missed Aunt Kiki. She's a birth doula and had a client in labor, so she had to miss out on the festivities. One of the sweetest things though? Leda whispered to me after she blew out her candles that her wish was that Aunt Kiki could come to her party. Melt my heart and remind me again why I'm SO glad to live by my awesome family while I'm raising my children!!

The next day she had a special 7 year old breakfast....

and then it was off to school for field day!

After school, we hit the pool! Our first pool day of the year!

And after the pool, despite the 90 degree heat, she requested sausage tortellini soup for dinner. Her wish was my command!



And at the end of the night she declared that day the "BEST DAY EVER!" love.


Oh how we love this little miss. She's such a special part of our family.

Some things I want to remember about Leda at this age:

• She talks ALL THE TIME.
• She LOVES to read and was voted the #1 best girl reader in her First Grade Class (she's reading on a 3rd/4th grade level)
• Leda loves animals. Sleeps with her cat Jack every single night and snuggles on her dog Lucy any chance she gets. 
• She sings almost more than she talks. Though if you catch her singing, or comment on how well she's singing, she will most certainly stop. She doesn't like attention on her at all. But she sings really well and on key, too!
• She is enjoying piano lessons and begs me to help her practice.
• Her favorite dinner is Sausage Tortellini Soup. She's starting to really dislike chicken. 
• She still calls me Mommy. 
• Leda would rather be at Aunt Kiki's house playing or upstairs snuggling with Grandma in her office on the couch. 
• She loves the neighborhood kids and rides her scooter every day. 
• She says her best friend is her cousin Gabe.
• She was a trooper recovering from her broken ankle. Considering she's our loudest complainer, the recover went surprisingly well. 
•  Leda is a snuggler. She can't NOT be touching you when sharing a couch with you. 

I maintain that one of the most spiritual experiences I've had to date was when Leda was just three days old and laying between Aaron & I in our bed.  I was overcome with such a peaceful, wonderful confirmation of "rightness"...and I knew that she was a part of our family for a reason. Meant to be there at that time, and I was so grateful to my Heavenly Father for such a gift. I cannot believe we've celebrated seven years together. Oh how we love her! Happy Birthday Leda Lou!

Dad turns "65"

It's no secret around here that Grandpa loves the character Goofy. So we decided it'd be fun to take that theme and run with it....for his big "65th" birthday.

"Happy Birthday to our biggest goof!"----he's always clowning around with the grand kids. It's so fitting he loves Goofy.

We had a family dinner of his favorite: Enchiladas and salad with creamy cilantro dressing from Cafe Rio

And then pies from the local "pie lady" for dessert.

And guess who made a guest appearance?

And we finished off the weekend with a trip to the $1 movie to see "GOOFY, the movie" because guess who celebrates his birthday one day before Dad? Yep, the Goof. And they were playing it in honor of his birthday at the BYU theater. How perfect! 

It was fun for the kids to celebrate Grandpa's big day in such a fun, juvenile way. And Grandpa loved it, too.

We love my Dad so much. He's always so silly with the kids and trying to make them laugh by saying their name wrong, bringing out the "pinchy bugs" to attack and saying funny things to get their goat like taking their dinner plate away and saying, "OH NO, this is Grandpa's! This isn't Leda's!"  It gets them every time and we love him so much for his playfulness.

We also love his dedication to the Gospel, for serving in the Temple each week and for practicing his organ every single day and learning new pieces he shares with our ward. What a treat it is to be in the same ward with my parents at this time in our life. We learn a lot from being around Grandpa so much, and are grateful for the blessing he is in our life.

wordless wednesday

The week of May 16, 2012

 

Mother's Day part 1

So the only thing I really wanted for Mother's Day was a trip up the canyon to roast marshmallows. And Aaron delivered!

The kiddos providing manual labor

Master Chef

The dinner crew

The entire crew

Gabe & Chase...not fighting!

The Big Boys

After a few hours with the Valadez family, they left because Janie had had enough. Even though Spencer thought he'd die without his cousins...we proved to have the BEST time for the next 2.5 hours with just my little crew.

And then there were five...with a dying fire

Aaron and mini-Aaron

When Uncle Philip left...so did the firewood. And we weren't expecting to stay as long as we did. So these three became serious scouters for firewood. Chase, upon bringing some sticks said to me "Mom, we must keep you warm for Mother's Day, so I'm gonna work harder!" Melt my heart.

Leda chilaxin and talking NON-stop

Spencer with our newfound love: Enchilada Doritos

I just wanted a cute, normal picture with my husband and could see outta the corner of my eye he was being a punk. So two can play at that game. Take that!

When we packed up to go home, the kids just didn't want to go. And they couldn't believe we had sat around a fire for 2.5 hours.

Just the five of us.With no radio, cell phones, tv, scooters, trampoline, friends, cousins, crayons, books. Need I go on?

It was just what I wanted. And just what we needed. What a WONDERFUL time!

 I love my family and this place we live! Did I mention it took us just 15 minutes to get to a place where there was NO ONE around but us, a stream, a fire and s'mores? Heaven.

Happy Mother's Day weekend to me!

Mother's Day part 2

Mother's Day part 2 began with the traditional breakfast in bed. I love how excited my kids get to sneak into my room and wake me up. I also love how they sneak bites of bacon from my plate when they think I'm not looking. This year I especially appreciated sweet Chase and how he was intent on sitting with me while I ate.

I received sweet homemade gifts & cards.

After church photo shoot, which I am SO grateful to have since Easter was a HUGE flop.

 I love this picture of me & the kids so much. It was probably the first time I realized that my kids are too big for me to pick up and put on my hip....and that Spencer was so tall that I didn't have to bend over to be in a close-up picture with him. Crazy how fast they are growing up. Doesn't seem possible that at one time Spencer was just 3 and the others were in diapers.

After a few hours of R&R as a family, the REST of the family came over and we had dinner prepared by Philip, Rob & Aaron. Dad would have helped had he not been knocked out with bronchitis. Poor Dad. And my Mom! She had bronchitis first.

The women on Mother's Day

Carrie, Mom, me & Aunt Blythe

The pies prepared by Uncle Rob & Aunt B. Almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

What a beautiful Mother's Day weekend. I feel so blessed this year in so many ways. I'm grateful for my little family and that we are healthy and closer than ever. I'm grateful to my parents for allowing us to live in the basement while we figure life out in Utah. I'm grateful that my kids get to bond with Grandma & Grandpa D every day. I'm glad to live by my sister again...and to see cousin relationships develop hard core. I'm grateful that I'm closer in proximity to my in-laws and that we have FUN plans this summer. I'm so appreciative of a loving mother-in-law and the relationship that we have. She should write a book on how to be a mother-in-law. They don't come better. I'm grateful to have had a Mother who is so full of wisdom that she's often the person I think of first when I have a doozy of a problem to solve. They don't come better.

And finally, grateful to a loving husband who is my biggest supporter, who loves me unconditionally, who is teaching our children by example how to love & respect their mother. I'm so glad he takes days like this seriously and honors me and my role in the family. So much happiness on this Mother's Day! I feel blessed.