The Funeral

We were fortunate enough to make the trip out for Aunt Karen's funeral. I already had tickets for me and the kids to come on yesterday but we changed our flight and Joe joined us. Boy am I thankful I didn't have to fly by myself with the kids! Joe was such a big help and the kids did exceptionally well for waking up at 4 am! We got to SLC just before noon and after getting all our bags and trying to find out sweaters we got in our free upgraded rent-a-car and headed down to Provo. My good friend Amanda is nice enough to put up with us for 2 whole weeks! The first stop me and Joe made was for some much needed Cafe Rio! We actually prefer Costa Azul but we opted for what was closest. Since we've arrived we've been visiting non stop with family and friends. There was a viewing on Friday night and the funeral services on Saturday. As sad as the occasion was we were very happy to visit with so much family we haven't seen in years. I have a few pictures but I'll need to get more from my brother-in-law. He did an awesome job taking so many great pictures of all the family. Thank goodness for portable DVD players! This kept them happy until they fell asleep We had breakfast Saturday morning at Magelby's...sooo yummy!Kaiden wasn't happy about taking a pictureBut he enjoyed taking a picture of Jeremy...I know scary!

Joe's brother Mark, his mom's cousin Darlene, Grandma Liz, Joe and Kalli after the funeral

Me and my nephew Nate...he's so big!

Us with Aunt Betty

El and Kalli

Cousin Mindy with her nephew Mason or Tyler (they look so much alike I can't tell them apart!)

Cousin Dave with Jen and their little girl Eleanor. After the luncheon Dave was able to bless her and have lots of family in the circle. She is so cute and has more hair than her older sister!

We've been so busy here and I have so much more to post about. Still to come a visit with Grandma Liz, Elizabeth's 1st Birthday along with a water balloon launcher, and more friends! Stay tuned!

The Fair

We went to the Denham Springs Fair at the Catholic church on the 17th. We had so much fun but the fair grounds were so wet and muddy. We went with our good friends Katie, Phe and little Tyler. The boys had a great time with Aunt Katie riding rides, while me and Phe were brave enough to go on "The Rocket". Me and Phe do this every year and have so much fun, we just laugh the entire time we're going upside down. Joe rode it last year and wasn't man enough to handle it this year so him and Kal enjoyed watching us. For the most part Kalli enjoyed riding the rides as long as she was with her brother. She was a little impatient waiting for the ride to start and would try and unbuckle herself. Once the ride would start her and Kaiden would just laugh but then Kal would start to get bored going around in circles. Kaiden enjoyed the Fun House more than any ride so Joe stood there and just kept giving Kaiden more tickets to go through. In all we had a great time but were hoping for better weather next year.

Phe and Tyler racing against me and Kaiden. We were close
at first but I guess the extra weight helped the boys out.

"The Rocket" or "The Bullet" I can't remember!The lady wouldn't let Kal ride by herself so I had to squeeze in and ride tooThey're both having a great time...

Kal not so excited anymore!

Kaiden patiently waiting for his turn in the Fun House

Kaiden climbing up the Fun HouseNow he's about to go across the "troll bridge!"

A Sad Loss

We got some awful news on Tuesday that Joe's Aunt and Uncle (his dad's youngest brother and wife) were in a horrible car accident. They were on their first mission together serving as Kirtland Historic Site Missionaries. We don't know much about the wreck just that they were in a car with another couple and their car was broadsided. Thankfully the other couple is fine but Karen was killed instantly and Randy was sent to the hospital in critical condition. Although Randy is still in serious condition and will have a lot of healing to do they were able to stabilize him and his prognosis is now much better than when he was initially brought into the hospital.

Karen was an amazing woman with a fun and bubbly personality. She was so much fun to be around and always had a big smile on her face. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Please keep Randy, that he will have a speedy recovery, and his family in your prayers.

Here's a link to the short news story found on KSL. http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=3298530

My Mother's Day

My Mother's Day wasn't too much out of the ordinary. Joe was nice enough to get up and feed the kids so I could sleep in an extra 10 minutes (wahoo!). It wasn't that Joe's wasn't being nice but I had to hop in the shower. I wanted to actually look presentable for MY day! Church was nice but towards the end of the sacrament meeting Kaiden started to feel sick again and was really whiny. He woke up just fine with no fever but I guess his Tylenol from the middle of the night was really starting to ware off. Joe and I didn't know what to do b/c we both had classes to teach during the 3rd hour. But Kiaden was not getting any better and just crying and begging for us to bring him home. We decided that Joe would wait out in the foyer with Kaiden until the meeting was over and i talked to the Primary Pres and had her take over my Sharing Time. We thought the kids, especially Kaiden, would be better off with mom- my kids are total mommy babies. So Joe dropped us off and went back to church while Kaiden went straight to bed. I loved Kalli's new dress so we had a small photo session and played. Kaiden woke up about an hour later and then Joe came home. We all had some lunch and then shortly after it was nap time for all of us. Sunday naps are the best! After nap time we went to my parent's for a BBQ and it was delicious! My dad did a great job with burgers, hot dogs, chicken, and sausage. We had a great afternoon and spent the whole day outside enjoying the beautiful weather. Kalli even had her first motorcycle ride. She was a little freaked out when Aaron started it up b/c of how loud it was but she still had fun. Kaiden also took a ride with Aaron and wasn't scared! One of the last times Aaron toke Kaiden for a ride he went a little too fast so Kaiden hasn't wanted to ride for quite some time now. Shannon even rode the bike for a little while. I was waiting for her to crash and get it on camera but she actually did pretty well...too bad! :)

The highlight of the day was by far getting to talk to my sister Autumn on her mission. It's still so weird to me that I don't get to talk to her everyday like we use to. She is doing great and loving her mission. She just got transferred and is now in Palmyra. She loves it and her companion is going to be in the pageant so she's been able to help a lot with that. She works in some of the coolest church historical sites. I can't wait until we can all go there as a family. Kaiden was so excited to talk to her and Kalli even said "heay" and some other mumbo jumbo before saying "buhbye". It was so cute. It was a great day with some delicious food and even better desert! Dad froze some homemade ice cream and I made some chocolate covered strawberries...mmm yummy! Joe's parent's were out of town but we were able to talk with them on Monday. In all it was a great weekend.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Supermodel Saturday

We had a very busy Saturday with lots of festivities planned. We started the day off at 6:30 am (thanks to Kaiden!). After breakfast and baking 2 dozen cupcakes Kal and dad woken up and we all started slowly getting ready for our first activity, the ward crawfish boil. The Elder's Quorum Presidency hosted it and they did a wonderful job! It was a lot of work b/c it was just 3 of them that started boiling the 400 lbs of crawfish. Yup you read that right 400 pounds of crawfish. And they were delicious. I didn't get any pictures while we were there b/c I was either playing all the fun games provided fro the kids or stuffing my face. The weather was actually pretty nice and though it was a little warm at times a nice breeze would blew every-so-often. But poor Kal she was sweating more than anyone! Her whole head was soaked and she doesn't even have hair to make her hot! After several batches of crawfish we brought the kids home let them rest and I went off to a baby shower.

I had to leave the shower a little early to bring the kids to Brooklyn's 3rd Birthday Party. The kids were so cute in their swimsuits but by the time we got there (which was pretty late) the swimming portion of the party was over. Luckily Kaiden didn't remember much about the swimming once we got inside and he saw all of the other kids and the plethora of Brooklyn's toys. We had a good time but I'm sure Kim (Brooklyn's mom) was ready for the day to be over. There were so many rowdy kids (mine included) running through her new house that I"m sure she was ready to scream. And if she was she hid it all so well! Thanks Kim we had a great time and Happy Birthday Brooklyn!

Once we got home the kids were still in their swimmies but Kaiden was now running a fever and lounging on the couch watching TV. Kalli was just so cute in her swimsuit I had to take a few pictures. My friend Wendy got her this adorable suit along with the hat and sunglasses. It was Kalli's first time wearing it and she didn't even get to swim...but she still looked dang cute!

I had to include the back view with the cute ruffles!

After Kaiden got a short nap and his Tylenol had kicked in he was running around like crazy. Kalli and I had just came home from Wal mart where we finally found her her own chair! She was so excited. She was sitting in the chair while it was in the buggy and I was pushing her around as she waved to everyone. It was sooo cute! She looked like a little princess. Kaiden thought it was pretty great that Kal had her own chair and we got a few pictures. When I told them to look and smile Kaiden just leaned over and laid his head on Kalli. I thought it was so sweet!After sitting still for too long Kalli was trying to climb on her chair to get on top of the table. She always sees Kaiden up there playing and she wants to join in. Well she actually got up all by herself with just the help of her new chair! She was living large. As you can see in the picture she's very happy to be there!

Our day at the park

Tuesday I loaded the kids up and went to North Park. I love this park even though it takes a good 10-15 minutes or so to get there. But there's lots of different slides, swings and a rock climbing wall. Kal was a little tired before we left but once we got there she was running around like crazy. Maybe she had some stored up energy, who knows. The park was almost completely empty so it was nice that I could go up all the slides with Kalli and help her down. That girl is so determined to do anything and EVERYTHING that her brother does. She has no fear! She did really great going down all the slides and started getting the hang of having to sit down before sliding instead of just trying to walk down the slide. I didn't get any pictures while we were there but here's Kal passed out on the way home. She was so tired. I looked back one second and her eyes were getting heavy and the next minute she was completely out! We came home ate some lunch and she went right back to sleep.

Kalli loves this hat! I have bought her a few others that are similar and she screams when I put them on her head. But this hat she'd wear it all day!

After taking Kalli's picture (at a red light of course!) Kaiden whined for me to take his too...and this is the face I got. Doesn't he seem happy for getting what he wanted? :)

On another note we went to Chick-fil-a on Thursday after running errands to have some fun time. Kalli must of gotten all the practice she needed at the park b/c she climbed right on up the steps and went down the slide all by herself! There was a little girl that was at least 2 in there and she was even a little scared to go down the slide at first. All the other mom's couldn't believe Kal was going all by herself and neither could I! She's not even 15 months old yet- I just think she thinks she's as big as Kaiden is. Several weeks ago we were there (we go all the time- I just love that place!) all by ourselves so I crawled up the play area with Kal and helped her down the slide but Thursday she didn't need any help at all. In fact she couldn't even get up the steps without my help the last time and I turn my back for a minute this time and she was already up the first 2 steps! I don't know what that little girl is going to try and do next!

Kaiden- The Photographer

Kaiden has really been into taking picture lately. He could walk around the house forever just snapping shots of the floor, the door, Kalli, his cars, his feet, and yes his fingers a lot of the time too. But he has gotten in a few good shots here and there. I just wanted to post a few. All the ones he took of me I quickly deleted...I'm just not ready to be the center object in one of his master pieces!

PS- these are only a few and I selected the better ones. Gotta love digital cameras, just a simple click to delete all the blurry blobs.

Kalli usually isn't in this many of his pictures but I guess she was being a good model that day!Is this boy amazing or what. He even takes great pictures of himself! (Not really Joe took these I'm sure I had ya going!)Scary face watch out!

I actually took these last 2. Kalli somehow fell into the toy basket and couldn't get out. It was pretty funny. I remember when Kaiden did the same thing as a little boy but he went face first!

For all you Twlight lovers...

I found this link on Macy's blog. It's the movie trailer for Twilight!!! I'm so excited even though it doesn't come out until December! But also a little disappointed in the actor playing Edward. He doesn't even come close to what Edward would really look like...Beautiful! :) Any way check it out!
http://www.myspace.com/trailerpark