Baptism pictures

 I have this awesome friend. You've met her before last fall. She. Is. Awesome. And she has mad photography skills. I LOVE visiting temple square in the spring and when we went a few weeks ago, I knew we HAD to get Mollie's pictures done before all the flowers were gone. It couldn't have been more perfect or beautiful. It was so fun getting to see my daughter twirl and laugh and smile and get to also spend time with a good friend. So many tourists from China stopped and oohed and ahhed over her and took pictures of her. She is so so so pretty. Inside and out.

 My girl, doin her thing.

 She got a few of us together...I wasn't prepared or dressed up for the occasion, but I love them anyway.

 She opted to wear a charm necklace her grandma gave her. It has everything she loves in it.

 There are SO many good ones and its going to be hard to pick, but I think this one is among the top.

 Alex did really good at capturing her silly happy personality. And Mollie had a new idea for every new place we went.

 LOVE!!

 And this one is hilarious and I love it so much! CANNON BALL!!

 But this girl is beautiful inside and out. Its often that people come to me and tell me how sweet Mollie is or a neat experience they had with her. She is sensitive to others needs and I'm so excited for her to receive the special gift of the Holy Ghost because I know she will do so much good with it. I love how pure and happy she is in the picture. It really captures who she is.

 And this one...OH I LOVE IT! I hope with everything in me her 3rd white dress will be worn to the temple. It is the place to be married to have an eternally happy ending. If you ever struggle in your life as you grow up, please look at these pictures and try to remember who this girl is. It's never too late to come back if you stray.

 Please remember to choose the right. And to keep the commandments. And to follow Christ. For there is where you will find happiness.

 I love you so much Mollie and can't wait for October for you to be baptized!!! It's coming so soon and I really can't believe you are 8! I know you will do great things in this life and go so far. You have natural talent at most things and you can lift others easily when you want to. Shine on my girl and let the spirit be your guide. Love you Mollo-Mayo! Oct 13 is right around the corner!!

A few MAY things

Brielle's little dance class started gearing up for their dance recital! Its been so fun to watch her practice!! She has absolutely loved it!! Stay tuned for pictures because she looks SO cute!

 The weather started warming up and with that comes lawn mowing season! Carter has been doing an awesome job and even has a little lawn mowing job for a few of the neighbors! Just need to teach that kid how to do the trimming too!!!

 I learned a lesson in heating up my honey....don't do it on the stove too fast!

Mollie had her second piano recital. The amount she has improved from then until now is astounding!! It has really clicked for her this time around and she is doing so great and improving every week!

 Here's her little group who performed with her.

 And she got a few flowers for doing so good. And ice cream.

 Soccer is still in full swing and we are staying very busy. A coach from the competition league is scouting mol to come tryout for his team. We will see what happens!!

 We also got to attend Norah's baptism and all these girls were gushing over the new Warner baby, Oakley. This one might need recreated in a few years!

Lots to come! Preschool graduation, dance and gym recitals, and last day of school! We were SO busy this month, but all went well. 

Jazz Game

Being part of the Jr Jazz, we scored some free tickets to a game. I was invited to go to Time Out for Women in Idaho so i gave up my ticket to go have some fun! But I think plenty of fun was had while i was away. 

 Mollie also got to go and we weren't sure she'd like it but she got cotton candy and got to meet some cheerleaders so she had fun. 

 Carter was pretty obsessed with "the new rookie" this year so he was very excited to go.

 Glad they got to have a dad date and spend some time together. Those times are too few and far between! Love my kiddos and hubs.

GO JAZZ!

Easiest potty training ever!....Almost

Well the time arrived that I felt like I wanted to get Ry potty trained before school was out. I stocked up on treats, salty food, juice boxes, and mom juice boxes (soda) for me. I pulled up my big girl panties, barred my teeth, and dove in! All my kids have been really hard and have had ZERO desire to train. So I was ready for the worst. It really took weeks of mental preparation. 

So imagine my surprise that within minutes of starting she had a success!! And then another and then another. She did not want to get off the potty! ( I couldn't keep my other kids on it!) 

 We played games, snacked on food, drank our juice boxes and really had some fun one on one time with all the kids in school. She trained in ONE DAY people. One day! She put panties on and never went back. She even came running to her potty from another room on the first day of training and plopped down and pooped! I was so shocked....NEVER has this ever happened with any children. They all run and hide usually. I thought, thats it, she's got it. We are done. She had one or 2 accidents over then next few days but, heck, my older kids sometimes have accidents too! So that was nothing.

 Then she realized going poop is not so fun. So now she holds it until night time. She is dry at night but that's when her body relaxes and it can come out. If anyone has dealt with this I'd love to know how you stopped it. She really is like clockwork. I have tried laxatives and they did nothing.

So for most of the early summer, if you drove by and saw a girl out riding bikes in her undies, that was Rylee! And really, I don't even care. She is doing SO well with potty training in general and changing one poopy pull up a night isn't a huge deal. I just figure when she's ready it'll happen. I'm just hopping sooner than later!!!!!!

Good Job RY RY! I'm so glad I got at least ONE kid who was mostly easy to potty train! Thanks for taking it easy on your old mom! LOVE YOU!

Baptism dress shopping!

After visiting Temple Square, I had the idea to get Mollie's baptism pics done while it was so beautiful there. (Which we did and are INCREDIBLE!) More later.... but I wanted to make a fun day of it and so we went to Bliss and shopped til we dropped. 

It was really fun seeing her light up as she looked at each dress. She wanted it to have sparkles and that we mostly her only requirement. She tried on several and we all oohed and ahhed in the dressing room. 

 And in the end, this is the one she picked! Not many sparkles, but just a few around the waist. It is so beautiful and was happy with how quick she picked it out.

 Of course we had to find some accessories, so off to Claire's we went! And these cute unicorns were there!

 After the shopping was done it was time for a treat. DQ shakes it was!!

 And we can't go to this mall and NOT ride the train....and since it was supposed to be a fun day, I caved and let it happen.

 On the way out there was a fun emoji game on the wall (whatever happened to your basic 'put a quarter in the merry go round or arcade game?')

It was such a fun day and I can't wait for her to be baptized!!! Love spending time with my girls!

A date worth documenting!

Chad and I went on a date to celebrate him  being done working three 80 hour work weeks! We wanted something fancier, but not gross, or excessively expensive...but we could not decide WHAT! We are the worst at that.....as we drove passed Tepanyaki we decided that was the place. Dinner and a show? Why not. We (maybe just me) were a little nervous at trying a new place because when it comes to eating out we are NOT adventurous! 

It was totally incredible watching these chefs get our order perfectly right at a table of 10 people. Their precision and talent in cooking is incredible to watch. 

 And the food??? Well lets just say WE WILL BE BACK!! It was SO yummy and everything was cooked perfectly.

 Chad even caught a shrimp in his mouth!

I'm glad we ventured out and tried something new and that it was such a positive, fun experience! Love you dear!

Field Trip time!

I'm always glad I get to go on field trips with my kids. I really think its one thing that strengthens bonds and relationships. We were off the the Natural Curiosity Museum! I was just as excited as the kids because we haven't gone yet!

They really have some cool exhibits and everything is hands on. There's even a water room where they can just make a mess. It was super fun!

 And its fun seeing Carter in his element with his friends. He is such a fun kid! And I'm so glad he is liked by so many. The best thing about Carter is that he does not care to follow a crowd. He paves his own path...and while that path may be through the bushes and upside down, it is always straight and he holds his values high. I love that he is confident enough to not care what others think. That is such a great quality to have. Especially in school. I'm so proud of the person he is becoming.

 Later that night, there was a Portuguese performance. It is always a TREAT to see what they have learned and hear them say lines and sing songs! How blessed are we to have this incredible opportunity in our schools!!!

Love you Carter man! I hope the many random hugs and 'I love you's' never stop!