Our New Garden

How we made our garden:

2 hours with the girls at Home Depot buying wood and having it cut to size.

An afternoon of measuring that wood, drilling and pounding.

Cody hauling dirt for 6 hours into our newly built garden box

and to other areas of the front yard.

Choosing just the right tomato, grape tomato, broccoli, red & green pepper, sweet basil and cilantro plants (zucchini and cucumbers to come next week).

An afternoon of planting our garden as a family (Avery = extremely helpful).

Brinley takes on the watering duties...

And then we step back to embrace and feel proud about what we have created

and what is still to come:

Teaching our girls about self sufficiency through gardening.

Weeding, watering and harvesting together.

Watching the plants grow each day.

Enjoying delicious fresh vegetables from our very own garden

and sharing them with others.

Kalahari Water Park

This week we took the girls to Sandusky, Ohio for our second annual trip to

an indoor waterpark/hotel called Kalahari! We did not do so great taking pictures while we were in the water, here are a few that we have and a mini re-cap.

Playtime outside during a lunch break.

Eating in the nude is delightful for Avery.

This is how Avery plays ski-ball. This is how Brinley plays ski-ball.

The wave pool was where we spent most of our time. Brinley mastered a"duck dive" underneath the waves as they came crashing into her. Daddy and I swapped off taking Brinley on some of the bigger slides while the other would entertain Avery.

It was mostly just wonderful to be with Daddy and all spend time together. I'm still not sure if the girls enjoyed swimming or running down the halls of the hotel more?

Paper Mache Pinata

On Uncle Duane's last day with us he came up with a great idea to make a paper mache creation with Brinley. Although messy this endeavor proved to be great fun for both Duane and Brinley who ended up with flour water paste all over their clothes.

Duane's vision included turning this round covered balloon into a penguin of sorts...but Paige and Mommy came up with a different, more simple idea.

After it dried Paige helped Brinley finger paint the exterior of her soon to be pinata and later we glued about 50 colorful foam flowers to the exterior for a perfect embellishment.

On Friday night we invited the Drexel's over for dinner and the long awaited pinata event. The girls were thrilled with the random treats within and even Aver participated in hitting Brinley's beautiful pinata!

Paige's Visit

What complete sadness I felt as we drove away from the airport this morning after dropping Paige and Brooklyn off to catch their flight. It was beyond wonderful to have them here for the past several days. Aside from the extraordinary help that a willing and loving friend/second mother can provide, I so enjoyed all of the time we had to just be together and talk. Ever since our families took a trip to Mexico together when we were young Paige and I have had a special bond. In Mexico we were joined at the hip and even secretly became blood sisters! Remember that Paige? Even though she grew up in Canada we somehow have maintained a uniquely close, mostly long distance relationship.

Paige, thank you so much for coming out to see us again. We love you so much! Tray, thank you for parting with your sweet wife and baby yet again to make this trip possible. We are thankful for your sacrifice (and PS Paige and I are planning for you all to stop by on your way to VP)!

Uncle Duane's Visit

This weekend Uncle Duane (my sisters husband) flew in from Chicago (more about why Duane is in Chicago later) for a weekend visit. My dear friend Paige and her daughter Brooklyn are also here until Wednesday (I'll blog about them later). What a wonderful time we had with Duane. Anyone who has spent time with him agrees that Duane is the most gentle, loving and enjoyable person to be around! Brinley thoroughly enjoyed every moment of playtime with her Uncle. Together they jumped on the tramp, played games, did some exciting gymnastics moves made a paper mache creation and read. On Saturday morning right after I finished teaching class at the gym (which I was thrilled to have Paige attend) we hoped into the car and drove to the North Market. We enjoyed tasting lots of delicious fresh food samples and seeing different foods from around the world. Paige and Duane introduced us to some yummy Taiwanese candy (they both served their missions in Taiwan) and we ate lunch while listening to a local band preform.

The rest of our fun together is captured quite well in this great video that Duane created along the way with his new camera. On Sunday evening we were SO sad as we drooped Duane off at the airport. We are so thankful for the sacrifice you made to be with us this weekend Duane! We love you and can't wait for you to come again!

Sick, oh so SICK

This past week I have been sick sick sick. No, it's not baby sickness, I've had the flu. Chills, fever, sore throat, headache, bla bla bla. It came on Monday afternoon and tonight I am still getting over the last of it. It has been over 6 years since I have experienced sickness as I did this week and for that I am SO thankful!

The reason I wanted to write this post was to thank all those wonderful people who helped me survive. I was deeply touched by the thoughtfulness and generosity of my friends this week. I have decided that as a Mother with young children it works best if you NEVER EVER get sick (that is why I typically don't I guess), but if you do it's best to have lots of great friends to help out.

A HUGE thanks to:

Jen Johnson

Angie Christensen

Elizibeth Dibel

Tod & Myhein C.

Kelly Bull

Tyler (for subbing by Urban Iron class last minute)

and my dear sweetie for pulling some serious strings to take a day off work

Thank you for being there for me in my time of need!

Baby one, two and...

Baby #1 = Brinley

Baby #2= Avery

Baby #3 = ?

Scheduled to make a grand debut in October!

To All Mothers

This weekend we participated in the 178Th Semiannual General Conference of our church. General Conference is a two day event which includes 4 two hours sessions. Talks are given by the Prophet, 12 apostles and general authorities of the church. The conference is broadcast from our Conference Center in SLC, Utah across the world and translated into over 90 languages. About 23,000 members are able to attend each session at the conference center, but most of us watch it on the television, radio or Internet.

Yesterday Elder M. Russell Ballard gave a wonderful talk about the importance of Motherhood and also about some of the challenges. I know that there are many Mothers who check my blog and I would encourage you to listen to this talk and know that your daily efforts and role in life IS SO IMPORTANT! The talk is in two parts, the first is the top one and the second is below.

We Miss You

Dear Daddy,

How we have missed you during this rotation. We long to keep you near us in the morning before your shift begins where you single-handedly read, produce a preliminary report for and dictate every blasted MRI, CT, X-Ray, bla, bla, bla that is ordered through the Emergency Department in the largest trauma center in the valley. Thank goodness the poor hospital chooses to only pay for one doctor to do all of that work at any one given time. We are all very excited for this rotation to be over and you arrive home before midnight. We are indeed thankful that you typically get off only about FOUR HOURS after you are technically suppose to be "off work" (which term does not apply to residents).

As you can see, Avery continues to be just the best little helper that I could ask for. She sure makes my work load much lighter with all of her assistance!

I think Brinley may have a nervous breakdown if she has to endure one more night without Daddy putting her to bed and indulging her with pretend stories and "fibs."

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Club Night

Wednesday Club:

Die Cut Blooms

A Perfect Day Rub-Ons

Summer Picnic Designer Paper

Tart and Tangy stamp set

Ribbon

Clear embossing powder

Punches...

and lots of creativity from club members!

Here are the few brave ladies who allowed me to take their pictures to post! Thanks!