A Puppy for a Day

Wynden Ward, a guy in our ward, married a girl named Sheryl who has two little boys the same ages as Atreyu and Cambria. It's been fun getting to know them and have a friend who lives so close. One of their dogs recently had puppies and they asked us if we wanted one. I decided to take one home for a few days even though Jesse said he really didn't want another dog. It was fun having cute little "Krypto the Superdog" stay with us but I realized that Jesse was right. I guess I was able to get my puppy fill. The kids had a lot of fun with him and they were surprisingly okay with taking him home.

We love Diesel and Cambria constantly snuggles him and says he's her best friend. We'll look into getting another dog once Diesel is gone but for now we will love our sweet Boxer.

Atreyu's 5th Birthday Weekend

Atreyu is lucky and gets to have his cousins here almost every year on his birthday since it's usually around Easter. The family wasn't able to come up Easter weekend so they all came for Atreyu's birthday. The kids had fun climbing Grandpa's hay stack, playing with Diesel and having an Easter egg hunt. The Dad's had fun shooting ground squirrels during their "Squirrelmageddon".

After the egg hunt we had a grand ole time shooting each other with silly string. Jesse somehow ended up getting more cans than anyone else and had a great time spraying his dad over and over.

After all the fun and games we had cake and ice cream for Atreyu and Archer's birthday, which is in a few weeks. Atreyu wanted a red Big Hero 6 cake. It took me A LOT of red food coloring to get the frosting to look red and not pink which caused it to make a big mess and left it with a slight bitter aftertaste but luckily the kids didn't seem to notice. I also made a train cake for Archer.

The boys then got to open their presents. Atreyu picked out his gift in January before Alco closed so he knew what he was getting and he got so sick of waiting to play with it. He was pretty happy with his fire station.

My little boy is 5! It seems like just yesterday I was so sad anytime I heard of other people having babies when I wasn't. Then it was finally my turn and this handsome boy scared us all to death when he was born. He is so smart and has a wonderful imagination. He has brought my life so much joy and I am so thankful that we didn't lose him when he was born. He and Cambria continue to teach me patience and I love them more than I ever thought was possible. Happy Birthday Buddy!

Family Home Evening

I am not the best at making sure we have Family Home Evening every week. It's really something I need to work on but it's difficult when Jesse has such a crazy schedule. Two weeks ago I actually remembered. We had our lesson on Jesus and then for our activity we watched the cartoon of The Hobbit. Jesse and I both watched it as children and we thought it would be fun to show our kids. They really liked it and all the songs, especially "Down, Down to Goblin Town". I don't think they found Gollum as creepy as Jesse and I did back in the day but he is still a bit spooky.

I love spending time with my sweet, little family and I thank Heavenly Father every day for blessing my life with such special spirits.

A Visit to Warren

Our dear friend, Warren, moved to the manor in Montpelier last November and we haven't been in to see him since Thanksgiving so a few Sundays ago I took the kids and Grandpa to visit him while Jesse was working and Grandma was visiting teaching. I know he enjoyed us visiting even though we weren't able to stay too long since the kids started getting anxious. He is a very sweet man and I'm glad that we were able to visit. He has a picture I took of him and Cambria on his dresser which he is very proud of.

Fun at Home

I love being a stay-at-home mom! It is such a blessing and I am so thankful Jesse works so hard to make it possible for me to stay home. I have fun playing with the kids and teaching them new things. It is so rewarding to see them understand things I have been working hard to teach them.

Sometime in the last year Atreyu's curls pretty much disappeared. It's so sad to me but if I get his hair wet, tousle it a lot, and put a bunch of hairspray in it, then the curls appear to come back a little bit. He is such a handsome kid and I love those big, brown eyes.

I decided I desperately needed to shampoo my carpets again earlier this week but I had to figure out where to put the LoveSac while the carpets dried. I ended up putting it on the loveseat and the kids thought that was awesome! They spent the rest of the night and part of the next morning playing on it.

I had to run some errands in town yesterday so I left the kids home with Jesse so I could get back a bit quicker. When I came home I found Cambria wearing three different tutus and carrying a bunch of scarves and leis around. I love that she is such a girly girl at times but then also loves to get dirty and play with animals. What a fun girl!

A Beautiful Springtime Day

The weather here in Bear Lake has been crazy lately. Two days ago it was raining and snowing and yesterday the sun was shining and we spent most of the day outside. I got some much needed yard work done and the kids had a fun time playing in the backyard. Atreyu has such a great imagination! He said he was a Finding Tree Dog who lived in trees and caves, didn't like the hot sun, could swim, had webbed feet, could run really fast, and was a predator. He kept adding to his story. I love listening to him play and come up with new ideas. Cambria played in the sandbox and playhouse and she said she was getting ready for a party. Apparently it was Speedy the Finding Tree Dog's birthday and she was making him a Big Hero 6 cake. What funny kids I have!

In the afternoon we went for a walk, played at the Harper's house and then went to the park. Atreyu is getting a lot more comfortable riding his bike which makes walks a lot more fun and enjoyable.

We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful, peaceful area. Earlier this year Bern was ranked as the number two happiest zip code in America. We're just lucky I guess.