Birthdays, Anniversary and Mother's Day

Blake's cake. The kids put the candles in all by themselves.













Blake looking a little green on his birthday.

The kids helping open presents.

My peppermint patty cake.

May is our big celebration month. May 10th was Blake's birthday and Mother's Day. Blake and Remi made me breakfast in bed, and Remi and Broden joined me and we all ate in bed. Then Alissa woke up and she also got breakfast in bed. For Blake's birthday we let him open his presents before church. He got 4 new ties. He already opened his other birthday and anniversary present. He got a new camera. One of the really nice ones that you can use different lenses with. He has been wanting one of these since we got married. Thank you air force for helping us out with this one. Then after church we just hung out and we were going to make a nice steak dinner, but Blake was feeling sick all afternoon, so steak wasn't really what he wanted. Remi and I did make a birthday cake for him though. We sang to him and he blew out the candles, but didn't eat any. The kids and I enjoyed it though. Poor Blake just didn't have a very good birthday. The kids did go to bed early though and we got to watch Twilight together. That was relaxing. Blake got me 2 hanging pots of flowers that are beautiful. I wanted something I could take with me if we move this summer.

The 13th was my birthday. I have been trying to eat healthy, so I didn't want a cake. But with kids you can't not sing Happy Birthday and blow out a candle, so Blake got creative. He got me a York Peppermint patty and put a candle in it. We all shared it after I blew out my candle. I also got some spatula's, bungee cords and flashlights. Then in the afternoon he took me shopping for some clothes and a new swimming suit. It was fun! I have and amazing husband. I also got to go to Arizona for my birthday. I left on the 15th(which is our anniversary). Thank you to those of you who gave me this gift. I had such a fun time down there.

When I got home our anniversary present was in the garage. New bikes, helmets and everything we needed to go for family bike rides. We have been wanting to do this for 3 years, and we can finally do it financially. I'm so glad we got these while we live here. There are so many places to see and you can see so much more when riding a bike than you can on foot.

We have been married for five wonderful years. Sometimes it feels like it has been forever. Not in a bad way though. It just seems like I have always had Blake by my side. I don't really remember life without him. He is such a good husband and an amazing father. I am so grateful he holds the priesthood and honors it. He can always make me smile. We have so much fun together and I look forward to having forever with him!

Home for Sale

In between all our travels and birthdays we got our home all ready to put on the market. FINALLY! We were scheduled to sign the papers on Monday, May 11th. We were supposed to fix the attic ladder, paint the garage, get patio furniture, plant flowers, paint both front porch and back deck and have it all clean for pictures. Well it rained from the time Blake got out of school until Saturday night. So Monday morning for some reason the kids got up at 5:45 am. This is not normal for them! But we got an early start on our chores. We painted both decks and got everything else done that was on our chore list all by 1:00 pm, when the Realtor came to sign papers and take pictures. Finally we are done! Now we just have to keep it clean and ready to show. We have had 3 showings since we listed and hopefully it will sell fast. We would love to rent a bigger home for the rest of our time here. 2 bedrooms is only fun for so long!

These are the before pictures. I don't have a before pic of the half bath. It was pink and blue flowery wall paper and a blue floor. You can imagine, right?



Kitchen- notice the wall where the fridge and stove are on the right. It's gone.

More kitchen
Dining room
Living room. Check out the huge, heavy old curtains.
From front door looking into living room.
Stairway.
Upstairs bathroom.
More upstairs bathroom. You can't see it, but the tile is falling off around the tub.
Remi's room.
More Remi's room.
Our room.

More our room.The front then.

And the front now!

Front porch.

Our room.

More our room.

Remi and Broden's Room.














Living room.













More living room.













Kitchen.













Back yard.

Washington DC

Riding the Metro.

Broden, Avery, Drew and Remi.

Pajama party in our room!

Relaxing in the grass.

In April we decided we wanted to take a trip to the temple. Then Blake found out he couldn't be in the clinic on Thursday and Friday because the seniors had boards, so we decided to take a trip to the DC Temple. We left Wednesday afternoon and after 4 potty stops for Remi and constant screaming by at least 1 child we made it to the Temple just in time for me to go to the 8:30 session. The Temple was so peaceful and it is a beautiful temple.

That night we stayed in a hotel then got up and Blake went to the temple while we got everything packed and ready to go. We then drove to the next hotel and checked in so we could park our car there and we rode the metro to DC. We went to the zoo for a little while, it was packed though, so we went all the way into town and met up with some friends to see some sights. That night we watched all the kiddos while the other 2 couples we went with went to the temple. They each have 2 and 1 on the way. 2 of the kids slept in their room, so we just had 2 extra in our room. All the kids had so much fun eating candy, playing on the beds and watching movies.

Friday we rode the metro into town again and walked all over to see the Declaration of Independence, the Air and Space Museum, and the Capitol Building. When we were in the room to see the Declaration of Independence it was really quiet. The atmosphere was reverent and everyone was serious. There was a really long line to see it and as soon as we got in the room our kids went bezerk. They started screaming and running around. They weren't mad really, just highper. So I peeked over someone's shoulder at it and we hurried out of there as fast as we could so we didn't get arrested for disturbing the peace. Then we rode the Metro to the pentagon, just for fun. It right at 5:00 so everyone was leaving. When we were looking at a map a man stopped us to offer help. We talked to him for a while. He was from Utah and a member of the church. He had 6 kids and is in the Air Force. He is going back to Finland I think this summer where he will be stationed for the Air Force. He was really nice. I'm sure we stuck out there with our 3 kids, all of us dressed modestly on a hot day, looking at a map. He probably had a good idea we were members.

That night we drove into town to see everything at night. It was neat, but not what I was expecting. I though everything would be lit up like we light up our temples. They weren't. It was still fun though.

Washington DC is an amazing city. The Metro is so easy to use and easily accesible for strollers. There is so much to do there that is free and so much to learn. The hotel we stayed in was amazing. All the bathroom soaps and everything were Bath and Body Works and the furniture was really nice. It was one of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed in.

Saturday we packed up and drove home. The kids didn't do too much better on the drive home than they did on the drive there. When we got home I wasn't sure if I even wanted to go on another road trip. EVER.

That night we went bowling with a bunch of friends from church. It was sooooo much fun. We had different competitions with the couples then went out for ice cream. It was a sweet date!

4 Years Old!!

Remi's 4th Birthday!



Remi's 3rd Birthday!

Fall 2007. 2 and a half.

Remi, 2nd Birthday!

Almost 2!

Driving across the country! 15 months.

1st Birthday!

9 Months

8 Months

3 months

2 months

One day

I can't believe Remi is 4. That is crazy. She is getting so grown up. She loves to help with Alissa, changing diapers, getting her dressed, buckling her in her rocking seat to watch movies with her and Broden and other "mommy" things. Remi also loves to take care of Broden, telling him everything to do or not to do.
A couple weeks ago someone came in Young Women's and was giving a lesson on Women and moms. She told about how when her boys were young they would get a rope and tie up anything and everything they could in knots. Then her little girl would take the same rope and drape it across herself like a boa. Remi is definately not a girly girl. She ties everything in knots and loves to wrestle and hike and do anything dad does. She wouldn't even watch any of the princess movies until last week when we all sat down and watched beauty and the beast. Now she will watch that and the little mermaid, but that is it.
She is getting so independent. This morning she woke up at 7:45 and came in to get me up. I asked her if she could go watch a movie for a little while. So she came down and watched a movie. When I came down half and hour later with Broden and Alissa she had on her movie and she had also poured herself a bowl of cereal with milk and eaten all of it. She was so excited that she didn't even spill.
One of the funny stories I remember about her was right after Broden was born she loved to run around without any clothes on. One day I was sitting on the couch feeding Broden and she escaped out the front door without any clothes. By the time I could put Broden down and get covered up she was half way to the library. That was a normal occurance after she learned how to open the door. So we installed the hotel locks with chains at the top of our doors. She has only escaped 2 other times since then. Once she put her bike next to the gate and climbed over it and the other time she opened our living room window and screen and climbed right out onto our front porch. She is good at getting what she wants:)
Her favorite toys right now are her animals. She plays with them all the time. Whether its the horses, elephants, giraffes, lions, tigers, polar bears or dolphins and whales she is constantly playing with them. She'll put them on the bookshelp, entertainment center, the speakers, the front entry floor(which is the water she says) and anywhere else she can think of. Her and Broden have so much fun with them.
I love having Remi as our oldest. She is so willing to help and is happy so much of the time and she has FINALLY within the last 3 months started sleeping through the night consistently. It is wonderful. I'm so excited to continue watching her learn and grow. Right now she is learning her alphabet and also how to identify birds. She can right her name and most of the other letters. She loves to do school and learn about her letters.
We love you Remi and are so lucky to be your Mom and Dad. Happy 4th Birthday.