Hayden's first dance recital

Hayden has absolutely LOVED being in her little ballet class!  She has been asking if it's "recital day yet" for weeks!  When I got her recital costume, I had to hide it immediately otherwise i'm sure she would've worn it to death!

Once again, I didn't realize that the focus was set to manual, UNTIL we got inside, after I had taken a bunch of pictures of Hayden in her costume.  Pictures mean SO much to me so of course I was upset.  At least I figured that out before the performance!

Hayden is such a girly girl.  I put sparkly eye shadow on her and of course we had to have lip gloss.  She was so concerned that her "makeup" would get messed up!  Ahhhhh, can't handle the cuteness!!

There really is nothing more adorable than a bunch of tiny ballerinas, running around on stage!!  She is the youngest in the group but she did SO good!

It's a tradition that they have a parent dance, sometimes it's with the dads, this time it was with the moms.  We did a little dance with our sweet girls up on stage.

Then, their last dance- Hakuna Matata/I Just Can't Wait to Be King from The Lion King.  Hayden really let her sassiness shine here!!

You know when there's that one kid that's just doing their own thing and EVERYone is laughing?  Yep, that was Hayden.  And it was the cutest thing EVER!!

She was like, "OH!  See my pretty tutu???  Watch me shake it."

After the finale dance with all the dancers, Hayden blew kisses to all her adoring fans!

She was so excited that she got pretty flowers and treats from her fans!

{Hayden & cousin Sophie}

Mother's Day

My Mother's Day was probably one of the best to date!!  Matt didn't have any of his usual Sunday meeting so he was home all day.  Sundays are very hard for me, he is typically gone from 6am-5pm and getting all 5 kids ready for church and getting there on time is exhausting, so it was nice to have him there to help me.  The kids made me breakfast in bed, COMPLETELY on their own!!!  Eggs, toast sausage and fruit.

Matt got me a new set of pots and pans, which I had been asking for and he made the most awesome video compilation of the kids answering questions about me.  I cried!!

After church, we took our annual photos.  This is the only thing I insist happens on Mother's Day and Father's Day.  I didn't realize until I dumped the pictures that they were totally blurry!  I guess the switch was set to manual focus. :(  I was so sad.

Matt grilled up steaks for dinner, then we headed to my parents to surprise my mom with another video Matt had put together with all my sibs answering questions about my mom.  It was a bawl-fest!!  We were able to Skype with Cody and had Britt on FaceTime too so we were all there!

Went to bed very happy and grateful to be a mother. ❤︎

First Temple trip for the Twins!!

Twelve years old is a big milestone in the LDS church.  Not only do you graduate from Primary and move onto Young Men/Young Women's, you are able to obtain a limited use temple recommend that allows you to participate in baptisms for the dead.  We believe that we can perform saving ordinances for our ancestors that have already passed through mortal death so that we can be bound together in the eternities.

It only took us two months to take Brooklyn and Blake to the temple to do baptisms for the dead!  Life just gets in the way sometimes, ya know?!  We went this morning, just the four of us.  I didn't actually do baptisms this time, I just sat and watched.  It was an extra special experience because Matt had worked with Brooklyn and Blake to find family names that we could take to the temple.  I'm grateful for their enthusiasm to participate in temple work in behalf of their ancestors.  It was a sweet experience to be with our children in the temple!

Gav's second Pinewood Derby

This is one of those instances where I needed to be in two places at the same time.  It absolutely KILLS me when I have to miss one of the kids' events!  Brooklyn had her last dance competition of the year so I went with her and Matt took the other kids to the Pinewood Derby.  I don't have any action shots because I literally walked in right as the last heat was racing. :(

{from Matt}

Gavin named his car Glaedr after the golden dragon in Eragon.

He ended up taking 5th place out of all the cub scouts.  This is such a fun event that the boys (and dads!) look forward to every year!  And I'm super grateful for scout leaders that go above and beyond the call of duty to make it such an exciting experience!

Have a {Field} Day

I've really tried to help where I can at the kids' school this year, making sure I divide the opportunities as evenly as I can between each of their classrooms.  This year, I volunteered to help the 4th graders during field day.  Each grade level got assigned a different color to wear, 4th graders were GREEN!  There were several stations that they rotated through.  Of course there must be water involved because it HOT HOT HOT in Arizona!

This is Gavin's itty bitty friend, Cadence.  He talks about her ALL.THE.TIME.

I love watching the interactions my kids have with their friends!  And I love they still love when I come help at school!  I'm so happy that the school has these events to promote health and wellness while having fun!

The little things ~ April

Shelbi called this morning and asked if she could do Hayden's hair for dance.  She found these little bunny ears on snap clips in the Target dollar spot and got them for her!

The Young Women from the ward came and "egged" our yard :)

Preston *STAR student*

Went at watched Taylyn play softball at Queen Creek HS

Their favorite part of going to Trader Joe's- finding Iggy the iguana!  Hayden begs to go so she can find him!  They get a sucker at checkout if they tell the cashier where Iggy is hiding.

Went into the Apple Store to get my phone fixed, Hayden and Bridger had fun playing on these iPads while we waited~

We had our Hamilton grandkids Easter egg hunt and then everyone piled into the back of Heston's truck to check out their loot.  

A sudden obsession with mermaids!!  Patricia Kann's newest "licious" book, Aqualicious

Shelbi had her baby girl!!!  She asked me to come to the hospital and take photos once they got a little rest.

Uncle David has been wanting to run Pat's Run with me for YEARS!!  This year, the stars aligned and we were able to make it work!  It was hottttttttter the heck by the time we were finishing and I was the sweatiest mess!  My (our) finishing time was 36:20 and I actually ran negative splits (getting faster each mile), average pace 8:52 min/mile, not too shabby!

Birthday dinner at the Keg.  I ordered the pecan crusted salmon with brussel sprouts and garlic mashed potatoes, it was delicious!

LuLaRoe, I'm obsessed with it!!  Maxi skirts, pencil skirts, baseball tees, dresses and leggings for moms and girls!  I finally hosted a party and earned a couple free pieces!  Here we all are wearing our new LuLaRoe- me & Brooklyn maxi skirts, Hayden loves these twirly dresses!

Happy Birthday to ME!

My day started off with breakfast in bed, yum yum!

Taking advantage of my free birthday meal (lunch) at Firehouse Subs, then a little treat from next door, just me and my favorite little people!

Matt knows I looooooove the Sweet Tooth Fairy so he picked up this beautiful strawberry cake for me.  After Brooklyn's dance recital, everyone sang Happy Birthday and we dug in!

Glad I got to spend my special day with my family.  Here's to making 33 FABULOUS!!