Lydia Kindergarten Graduation

When I went to school, I don't remember Kindergarten graduation being a thing. Maybe I have just forgotten, but I feel like I had to wait until High School to have any sort of graduation. However, times have really changed because Lydia had a darling "graduation" program. It only lasted about 30 minutes and had some poems and songs, but it was great. Lydia even got her diploma (a black rolled up piece of construction paper. 

We are proud of everything Lydia has accomplished in school this year. I'm amazed at how well she can read and all the things she learned and shared with us. Here are a few pictures from graduation. Lydia was so lucky that Aunt Melissa even took time to come and celebrate with her. My other favorite thing is that the kids were asked to dress up nice and Lydia wore a beautiful flower dress. However, most parents (as I would expect) did not dress up for the event. However, Lydia asked us to dress up in our best clothes for the graduation, so I wore a tie and Shantel wore a dress for the occasion. Lydia is such a sweet girl. 

 

 

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{5.19.18}     Lydia's cute neighbor-friend invited her to her ballet recital and Lydia has been dying of anticipation ever since. We've been counting down the days and making sure there were absolutely no scheduling conflicts. The day finally arrived and she carefully selected a bouquet of flowers to give to her after the performance, picked a fancy dress (with only a minor meltdown about the shirt I wanted her to wear under it), and put ringlets in her hair (also because she melted down when I told her we needed to do her hair, but telling her we were making it fancy did the trick). She asked her daddy to escort her and she had a great time. I love this sweet girl and her big heart. 😍♥️


{5.23.18}     Carrying L's backpack home on his bike because she didn't want to. (He's getting so good at that bike!) And tonight he got out the last inch of his snow cone from the freezer (that he's been saving) because she hurt her lip and he thought it would help her feel better. I love this sweet boy. He wins best brother award at our house tonight. 🏆

{5.29.18}     Coming up on nine years of marriage and we celebrated this weekend. A scavenger hunt in Salt Lake, reading our books up the canyon by a little stream, delicious food all weekend, and so much candy that it looked like an unsupervised child was given $40 to buy whatever they wanted. It was perfect. We aren't fancy, but this celebration is exactly what I needed this weekend. So glad to be part of this team. @puzzlingadventures <--- I would totally recommend this as a great date idea! (And we came in 5th of the top 100!!) And thanks to @jennahaderlie for watching our kidlets for the weekend!



{5.30.18}     Kindergarten Graduation today! 🎓🎓🎓Lydia is sad about it, but mostly because she likes her teacher Miss Johnson so very much. It's been a great year for her. But (not so secretly) I'm SO excited for summer! Whoo hoo!




{5.31.18}      SUMMER!!! 🕶️👒🍧🍦☀️⛱️♥️ I can't even say how excited I am for summer. Like, sooooo, excited. But to be perfectly honest, these carefree pictures are not really representative of our lives over the past few weeks. Stepping immediately from one project/task/adventure/meeting/responsibility to the next with barely any time to breathe and certainly not enough time to clean my house or go grocery shopping. But even though my house is a disaster and my cupboards are bare - the hour and a half spent at the swimming pool with my overjoyed children was exactly the slow down time I needed. And then today was our annual neighborhood "last day of school ice cream party", put on by our amazing neighbors, and it was just the best. We love living here. I want to remember it all. The mess and the stress AND the ice cream and laughter by the pool. (But I hope my kids just remember the laughter and ice cream.)

Early Anniversary Celebration Weekend and Puzzling Adventures

Last weekend we took Jenna and Kevin's kids for the weekend so they could have a big date weekend before baby #3 was born. Then this weekend they took Lydia and Austin (and Caleb during the day) so Shantel and I could do a date weekend. (Insert from Shantel, which will happen occasionally through this post, I felt a little guilty leaving my kids with Jenna right before her baby was born but these were the only weekends that ended up working for the two of us.) It was so much fun! We basically used this as an early Anniversary Celebration. Here is a recap. (yay!)

We have been desperately wanting another tree in our backyard for a couple of reasons. First, the sun is just killer and we need more shade. The tree we planted when we first moved in has grown...not at all. As in it is the same size as when we planted it. We are going to work on giving it more water, but we also need another tree to help. In addition, we had a tree growing behind our fence, but unfortunately it was growing too close to the fence and we cut it down. (This was pretty traumatic for me. I loved that tree. I so wish that it had just been a foot further away and we would have left it! It grew so tall and shaded the backyard so well and we didn't have to do anything for it. I looked and looked for a tree exactly like it, but I didn't know what kind of tree it was and my descriptions were fairly lacking. After knowing how great the shade would be with a tree down at the bottom I was determined to get a tree planted this summer.) So we really wanted to buy a tree. You might ask, why would you waste tree shopping on a date weekend? Our kids are the best and they are awesome going to stores and doing just about anything we ask, except going to a nursery. Any time we try to pick out plants for anything it is a huge struggle. If we are going to spend $300 on a new tree, we needed both of us fully engaged. 

Our plan was to find a big tree for the very back corner of the yard. 

We went to Cooks Nursery in Orem and found a Autumn Blaze Maple Tree that we are hoping will be perfect. It is fast growing. The picture here is not actually for our tree, because we ended up paying $300 so we could get a bigger tree (and this is not the maple). But you get the idea, we were tree shopping.

After we picked up a tree we went to drop off Caleb for the rest of the day. So we saw the kids for a couple of minutes at the park.

Then we went downtown to do our "Puzzling Adventure." One of our 12 dates for the year was a puzzling adventure. You are asked various questions and you have to race around answering questions and looking at a bunch of things. One of the biggest surprises of the whole day is that Shantel does not remember ever being at the capital. (Shantel: David means, that I told him that I've never been to the capital building before and he is so surprised he thinks that means I just don't remember... but I really don't think I've ever actually been to the capital before. But for a first trip, this was the best!) So I am so glad our tour started there. We ran all around the capital answering questions and then it took us down to Temple Square and then up to Memory Grove Park. It was so much fun! Honestly, it was the perfect day to spend together. We raced as much as we could and when we had chances to take breaks, we just enjoyed talking and laughing together. Here are the pictures that we took (you actually took them in the app as part of the activity).

(I think this is like the tree that we had to cut down in our yard. I told you I was on the lookout for it. Too bad we had already bought our tree at this point. Here's sending lots of love to that Autumn Blaze Maple and hoping that it grows really well!) 

(I really liked this big tree. Apparently I had trees on my mind. Also, I really liked the dedication on this plaque next to a little bridge "Living to serve them she build bridges of unity with charm and honor, over moving waters." May I also live to build bridges in my life with charm and honor.) 

When we finished it pulled up the rankings and we finished #5! That is pretty awesome. We took a picture to prove that 5th is pretty good because it showed the top 100, so a lot of people have done this and we rocked it. (We are pretty awesome.) 

After the puzzling adventure...well at first we just sat and the grass by the Capital because we were tired! We did a lot of walking and running. (This may have been my favorite part of the day because we were able to just sit and talk about some deeper things in our family and our relationship and our lives. It ended up being the perfect place to talk about the things that mattered to us. I feel really excited and happy about the place that we are and the direction we have for our little family and these few minutes were very precious to me.) 

Then we decided on dinner, we were debating doing something really fancy (and expensive) or something less expensive. I am particularly bad at this because the thought of spending $100 on dinner is just too much. So I always lean to something less expensive because I feel like I'll enjoy the food nearly as much and pay way less. We had on our list to try Ruth's diner which is just up Emigration Canyon. We ended up going there and really loved it. We sat outside under these beautiful trees and both really like our meals. It turned out to be the perfect thing for the weekend. (This is quite possibly the best dining experience of the year and possibly of our entire marriage. It was just so perfect for the day. So beautiful and just so great.)

Right next to the restaurant was some commercial space that was for sale. It had a beautiful deck with some tress and a little stream nearby and we took our camp chairs up to it and just sat and read books for a little while. It was so pleasant. The funny thing (picture below) is that as we looked at the space and thought, this would be the perfect reception center! We were all in on calling to see how much and get an agent to take us through and start a reception center business...then we looked and parking and it just would not work. There were not enough spots for the restaurant and reception center and there is no place to put more parking. So our dreams ended after about 15 minutes...alas. (It's sad that we got a picture of the for sale sign but not of the actual deck area. It was just so quaint and peaceful. I'm usually a strict rule-follwer and wouldn't even think about doing anything that looked like trespassing. But the deck was open to the parking lot, but once you climbed the stairs you were tucked into this little tree and stream filled space. I figured it was fairly public property. And also, to David's point, the lack of parking is probably why it isn't doing well - but it just cries out wanting to be a reception center!)  

That night we picked up Caleb and then went home to spend the evening together. We picked the kids up on Sunday in Morgan. Shantel, I love you so much and can't imagine having more fun and more happiness than being with you all weekend. I loved laughing and joking and talking. Happy Anniversary, I love you!

(I am truly the one who is so so blessed. David is the perfect fit for me. He brings such light and peace to my life and I can't imagine doing this adulting/parenting/life thing without him. Nine years together, and it's just getting better. I love you David. Thank you for being mine.)

May Tidbit Post

This will be the tiniest post of the year. A tidbit post. Lydia got invited to a friends dance recital and was so excited. She really did not want to wear a shirt underneath of her dress and there was some high drama. It is important to Shantel and I that we teach out children at each stage of life that dressing modestly is important. She finally gave in by selecting a long sleeve polka dot shirt that did not match at all and we were just fine with that. Since then, we has worn a matching blue and a white shirt with the dress with no compliant. I think it is important to do the right things, but then if your child finds an acceptable middle ground (like choosing a shirt that does not match and is long sleeve on a hot day) then you go with that and it helps you and them. 

Anyway, Lydia loved watching the dances (although her friend went near the end and it was a little long for her). I loved being able to take her. 

Also, Austin: Not sure why he looks grumpy here (maybe he was tired?), he really wanted his breakfast on the couch so we compromised and he got a tray on the kitchen. 

Bowling with the Walkers - Grandpa's Christmas/Birthday

So I have to preface this post by saying, I didn't take any other pictures than these. And by the pictures, you'd think that it was just our little family that went bowling and that we invited my dad to come with us. But that is not the true story. The real story goes: For Christmas, we gave my dad a coupon to go bowling with us. But then, come May, when we still hadn't used it - we decided to invite the whole family to come bowling for his birthday! All of my siblings were there (all 5 of us, plus all of our spouses where applicable), and all of the grandkids. My mom and dad were both there and we took up several lanes at the Morgan Bowling Alley. It was SUCH a fun afternoon with everyone. WHY didn't I get more pictures? WHY?  

I'll just say that I love my family and I love that we are able to do things like this together. 

And here are a couple of the cute pictures that we did catch: 

My dad is a wonderful Grandpa and he had almost as much fun bowling with these kids as they did with him. We are lucky to have him, and lucky to have such a wonderful family to spend time with. 

Some things I love about my dad: 

1. He's incredibly kind, patient, loving, and giving. 

2. He makes me laugh because he's so funny. 

3. He was always a cool dad, and growing up my friends and I liked to hang out with him all the time.

4. He can fix basically anything and he never gets impatient or frustrated when we are all constantly coming to him for help. 

5. He is a great husband to my mom, and I'm grateful for his example of marriage. 

6. He goes to the temple regularly and bears his testimony of Jesus Christ frequently. 

7. He loves his family, and shows it through his words and actions. 

8. He sometimes worries about his introvertedness and awkwardness (I inherited these things from him), but he's the most sincere, wonderful person - you can't help but love him.

We love you Grandpa! Happy Birthday (and Merry Christmas!) 

Mother's Day 2018

Mother's Day.


I know that some people do not love Mother's Day. But... I love Mother's Day.

I love my mother and I am grateful for her influence on my life - both as a child and as an adult. I treasure and respect her opinion on so many things and talking to her is often just the thing I need to help clear my head. I always laugh when I think of the way most of our phone calls in college started. "Mom, hypothetically... if I were trying to __________, how would I do that?" She'd always laugh and talk me through exactly what I needed to do to accomplish whatever task I was trying to do - from making Cheesy Potato Soup to setting up my own dentist appointment. The feeling of my mom holding me and rocking me while stroking my hair is still a comfort to me. I have very clear memories of being too big for her to really hold me in a rocking chair, but her doing it anyway and holding me while I cried. And even as an adult there have been times where I've laid next to her on the couch and had her lovingly comfort me like I'm five years old again. I treasure her as a mother even more every single day of my own journey of motherhood, and frequently want to call her just to say thank you and that I love her. "Hi Mom, Lydia just told me I am the worst mom ever, and I am sure I said something equal to that when I was young, but I didn't mean it because you're the best mom ever and I love you." Or "Hey Mama, I just cleaned up a whole crib full of poop and I just want you to know that I'm grateful for every day that you did this for me." You know, things like that.

I also love, and am so grateful for my Mother in Law. Sue is so kind, loving, nurturing, giving, and good. She has welcomed me with open arms and has been more than I could have ever hoped to have as the mother of my husband. She is my friend and a wonderful example, full of love and good advice. I'm so grateful for the way she raised my David, and all the time, effort, and love she put in to making him who he is today. We share a love of sewing (or at least a skill of sewing and a love for serving other people) and we've made some amazing things together: baby blankets, minky quilts, baby bibs, and a baptism dress. Spending that time with her has been a blessing to me in so many ways.

Both of our moms are such loving grandmothers and our children are so lucky to have them in their lives. We've had such legacies of wonderful, amazing, courageous, loving women in our families and I treasure this day where I get to celebrate them and all they've done, and celebrate my place among them. 



David was a rock-star and he worked hard to make the day special for me. I wasn't particularly anxious about it and was just happy to be a mom and celebrate the little family that I have - but he let me sleep in, had the kids help bring me breakfast in bed, (which breakfast said kids also helped to eat), gave me some time to really study my scriptures, and then taught sharing time for me so I could go to Relief Society.

One of my favorite things that our ward does is that the EQ volunteers in the Primary so all of the sisters can attend RS together. There is just something powerful about having a whole Primary Room filled with men. It's a lot of work, a lot of work, to organize it all - but it's always worth it. This year the EQ presidency was pretty new, so I found people to replace the singing time leaders but was just going to teach sharing time myself - but David said that he would do it. We taught together during the 2nd hour and then he did it by himself during the 3rd hour. It was such a kind thing for him to do. RS was amazing and I'm so glad that I didn't miss it. I'm so grateful for a husband who is kind and good and shows me he loves me every day.



Another thought that I've had these last couple of weeks. I follow an organization on Facebook called the Utah Refugee Connections. At the beginning of school we helped put some back to school kits together, and for mothers day they were asking for more donations for some Mother's Day kits. They were asking for garbage cans/garbage bags and white towels. I posted on my neighborhood page asking if anyone would be interested in helping me put together kits and went to bed. When I woke up in the morning I had almost $100 in my Venmo account from people donating. It was amazing. Wendy got her neighborhood together, too, and in the end we were able to drop off 16 garbage cans and 8 towel kits!  You know, Mother's Day usually means chocolate and sleeping in, but this year I am grateful to be able to help these moms who need washcloths and garbage bags. I hope that I can always remember the blessings that I have and remember to reach out to those whose lives I can help bless, too. (Lydia was in school when we went to drop them off - but Austin was such a great helper.)



I wanted to write about this, too - and this seems like a good spot to do it. Last week the Stake Relief Society put on an activity with wonderful speakers and a service project. They were sewing kits for Days for Girls, an organization that makes feminine hygiene products for girls who otherwise wouldn't be able to attend school during their menstrual cycle. They showed a powerful video at the beginning that just tears at my heart even thinking about it. Because, do you know what you do when you don't have feminine hygiene products during your period? You sit over a cardboard box in your room until you're allowed to come out again, or worse. This. breaks. my. heart. I was only able to work in the service area for a little while, so at the end I came back and asked if I could bring any parts of the kits home to help finish sewing them. The Stake RS President was so grateful and sent me home with a giant stack of fabric to sew into bags. I wasn't expecting quite so much when I offered and she said that I could just do what I could do in one week and bring back the rest, but I quickly resolved that I would finish all of the bags. So, I spent hours and hours, here and there throughout the week working hard to sew together these bags. I was able to finish all of them, and ended up with 48 of them. It seems like SO many, but SO few at the same time.

I am grateful for my menstrual cycle and for the blessing of motherhood that it has brought to me. I am grateful for a mother who taught me well and raised me to view my body in a positive and faith-filled way. I'm grateful for the many times as a youth that I was able to stand and declare that I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father and that I have a divine nature. I hope I can teach all of my children this. And I'm grateful to have been able to serve in a small way - and hope to be able to be involved even more in the future.


And with that, a very happy Mother's Day to you.