Happy Birthday Sweet Jordi!

My sweet little Jordi turns 6 today!  I can hardly believe how the time flies.  In one short day I will be putting her on the school bus for 1st grade!  Jordan is an absolute riot to be around and always keeps me in stitches.  Jordan is absolutely always true to herself and ALWAYS says it exactly how it is.

Jordan has grown up so much this year.  She actually started to like skiing.  She participated in another round of swim lessons, took jump rope class, learned to read, rode all the “big” rides at Lagoon, lost 2 teeth, loved riding the horse and decreased the frequency of tantrums by at least 70%! 

Here are a few funnies from Jordan in the past few years that I can think of…

We are sitting at Stake Conference and we are watching the meeting via telecast.  Some members received some callings and etc and when the process was finished Jordan said (very loudly) to me, “How does that guy know if we object, he is not even really here”? 

“Mom, my most favorite part of everything is my family!”

“Mom, did you know Samantha is like my cousin friend?”  I then ask Jordan what that means.  “Welll, it’s like my best friend and my cousin, so like the best ever.”

Jordan’s 1st grade teacher met with each child and their parents individually.   During that meeting Jordan says to her “You know, I have 3 dads?  My “real” dad, my “Jeff” dad and Heavenly Father.”

This is Jordan to Kim.  Kim is taking the girls to the mini Caprielle clinic and talking about how much fun they are going to have learning a new dance.  Jordan says this “I am just in it for the pizza!”

Jordan’s favorite time of the day is the sunset.  She will often say “I just love this time when the sun is making the sky red.”

Jordan  had a family birthday party and a friend birthday party.  She has such darling girls her age in our neighborhood. 

 

 

Happy Birthday Jordi!  Thank you for making our days happy and so unpredictable.  Jordan absolutely lights up any room that she enters and I am so blessed to be her Mom!!

On another note, I have been a complete blog SLACKER.  So stay tuned in the next few days while I catch up on the events of the past week!!

Raspberry Days 2010

Raspberry Days is one of the highlights of our Summer.  The kids LOVE Bear Lake and love being in the parade.  This year we spent 4 days at the lake and truly loved every second (okay.. almost). 

On Thursday it was raining so we spent most of the day inside.  The parade was in the evening and the kids truly loved the parade.

I didn’t have my camera (I know, I suck!) but stole this photo off Kim’s blog.

What beautiful kids!  We threw 1000’s of pieces of candy and Jeff bought 500 Elden Dattage wrist bands.  What a great time!!

On Friday we went to the craft fair, played by the pool, some golfed and we went to the rodeo and celebrated my dad’s birthday.  When I referenced loving every second of the trip the exception was the rodeo.  It was raining and the wind was blowing, but we were brave.  At least everyone else was, I mostly just whined!!!

Playing by the pool..

 

Golfing…

The highlight of the freezing Rodeo was Samantha muttin bustin.  She was so cute!!!  Jordan was so concerned about her and after had to sit by her to make sure she was okay.

Big T got a Rhino some time back..  The kids are so spoiled they can’t walk the 2 blocks from the Laketown house to the Rodeo arena! 

Jordan, Kendall and Reagan also tried to catch a sheep..

After the Rodeo we went home and celebrated my Dad’s 65th birthday.  What a blessing to have such an incredible example as a father and grandfather.  My girls LOVE him and so do I!

On Saturday we participated in a 5K race, went to the not-so-good fireman’s breakfast and hung out by the lake.

Big T participated in her first 5 K ever and took 2nd place in her age division!  Way to go Mom!  Shea took 3rd place in his age division and is a super athlete!

We had a great day sitting by the Lake..  Check Kim’s blog for Jeff’s funny joke!  He may kill me if I post it.  It was SOOOO funny!!

Check out Miss Maelee’s swimming suit!  I love that girl!  I didn’t get many photos but the kids had a great time building castles.  Mitchell met up with some girls and built an incredible castle.  The kids also got in a huge water fight with Grandpa Elden.

Among all of the fun of Raspberry Days I appreciate most spending time with ALL of my siblings and their families.  I loved the last night laughs and talks…  I am already excited for next year.

Here is Ryker is one of our late night silly moments.  He is such a great kid and is growing up so fast!

WEIRDO!!! 

Garage Sale & Lagoon

At the beginning of the summer we decided to have a garage sale.  We thought it would be a great way for the kids to put in some effort and earn some money.  The kids worked really hard and we were able to get rid of lots of stuff.

Mitchell did some last minute advertising for us…

Taylor was a great cashier…

Jord woke up at 5:00 a.m. and helped us set up.  She was promptly back asleep by 7:30 a.m.  Taesha was an awesome help during the sale.

Chase was an awesome help.  He worked for an entire week to get stuff ready. 

We had visits from the Johnsons, Watrins and Grandma and Grandpa.

 

Later that week we made our annual trip to Lagoon.  It was an awesome day.  Jordan no longer wanted to ride any of the “kiddie” rides.  I spent my day going on all of the big rides with her.  It actually broke my heart and marked the end of her being little.  She, however will always be one of the “babies!”

All of the kids have grown up SO much.  Lance, Kim and I took 9 kids and it was not stressful at all!! What a joy they are!!!

Bonneville High Class of 85

A few weeks ago we attended Jeff’s high school reunion.  Now, in Idaho they go ALL OUT.  Keep in mind we have already spent a weekend in April with Jeff’s classmates.  However, that’s just not enough.  We headed to Idaho Falls for the weekend.  On Friday they had a mixer, on Saturday morning golf, Saturday afternoon family picnic and Saturday evening a dinner.  We had a great weekend.  It was so fun to meet some of Jeff’s old class mates.  What I learned…  Jeff once scored 8 points in 30 seconds to win a championship basketball game.  Jeff and his friends did things we shall not publish in the basement of his house.  As good as Jeff was at basketball he was better at baseball and football AND Mitchell can fit in Jeff’s old locker! I really enjoyed meeting some of Jeff’s old friends and spending time with those I had already met.

 

Jeff’s team won the golf tournament.. Which was really good for his ego:)

Home again!

Day seven was travel day.  We were headed home.  Typically when I am away from home for a long period of time I am ready to come home, not so this time!  I could have stayed much longer!!!  Those of you who have been on a cruise know that getting off the boat is a process.  The kids were super patient and it went well.

So we said goodbye to 7 days of being waited on, fed and cleaned up after and came home to laundry, no food in the fridge and the lawn needing mowed!  We also came home to my new niece who I was dying to hold, grandparents my kids were dying to see, my “other” kids (the Watrins) whom I had not seen for FAR too long and a neighborhood and community that I love.  I feel so blessed to have been able to travel and so blessed to come home to such favorable circumstances.  The vacations we take in life we will never forget…  But day to day life is what sustains us.  I am grateful to Jeff for working so hard and being such an excellent provider.  I was reminded of how grateful for that I was on vacation but I am even more aware of that on a daily basis!  I am blessed to be able to serve and take care of 5 beautiful children and loved every minute of a week uninterrupted with them.