Tate TURNS 4!!!!

How does this even happen? I blink and all of a sudden my little Taters is four. Man i love this kid. I love everything about him. His little lisp, his random comments, his love for the avengers, his constant repetitiveness, his incredible imagination, how much he loves me, how he can't count to five but sure tries, the way his eyes close into rainbows when he laugh. He has the best laugh. He's stubborn as all get out and he can be very difficult to parent at times but I am so grateful he is mine. He makes life better in every way. We had so much bringing him breakfast in bed and taking him to all-star lanes for arcades and laser tag. It was so cute…after we had brought him breakfast and the kids were getting ready for school he said.."don't you guys want to stay here and play with me?"  They were both like "ya we do!!!" So that's when we made plans for all-stars and off we went. That evening we all went over to Jordan and Kristees to celebrate seeing as Jordan and he share a birthday. We had a fun campfire and cookout and opened lots of presents and made his day the very best we could!

Memorial Weekend 2016

Weekends like these are sure nice.  An extra day off work for Tob, an extra long weekend to play, and most importantly a weekend on to focus on all of our loved ones who have moved on and to recall all of our wonderful memories of them. We started with taking a long walk around the lake and to the park at daybreak. Chicago came with us and gave us a run for our money by jumping in the lake to play with the ducks. Good times. Josh and the girls came with us and we really enjoyed some sun. On Sunday we took our annual drives up north to all of the Graves. Joel and Tessa came down and joined us and we had a nice picnic at the pavilion. At each of the stops we would sit around and just recount memory after memory of Grandpas and Grandmas and aunts and uncles and all of our loved ones. We also went to see Todd and visit with him for a bit. Somehow we fit some baseball tournament in there as well. I love this tradition. I never want to stop. It helps me feel close to them and I miss them all so much. How grateful we are for the gospel and our knowledge that families are forever.

TOP GOLF with the Stevens and Ashbys

Nothing better than a date night out with good friends. And these guys are some of the best. We were able to make it to Top Golf for the first time with the Stevens and Ashbys. Oh my goodness this place is amazing. The atmosphere is just so fun!!! The boys were in heaven with the golf, the sports on the tv, the food and us girls just chatted away. We did however find out how terrible my golf swing is but it improved a bit as the night went on. I love when you're with your friends and you all just can't stop laughing. To have a smile on your face the entire night is just priceless. We are sure lucky to have these guys as such good friends. Fun fun night.

Elle turns Eleven!!!!!

How does this happen?! How is my little baby girl 11 years old? Ugh it makes me so so sad and honestly a little scared at the same time. I only have like 8 more years with her in my home. Have I taught her enough? Played with her enough? Talked wit her enough? I feel so inadequate to be her Mother. I'm trying though. And I'll continue to try. I love her so much. We had so much fun celebrating her. Although the first part of our "celebrating" did NOT turn out how we had hoped. Elle really wanted to take her friend Gabby to the Tulip Festival. It's such a gorgeous place and we enjoyed it so much the year before. So my mom and I, Jamie and Kellen, and the kids and Elle and Gabby all loaded up and headed to Thanksgiving point. We hadn't been out of the walk longer than a few moments when it started to rain. It was coming down pretty hard so we turned around and went back. We were hoping to wait it out. It stopped, the sun came out, so we headed back out on our walk. We got quite far out by the food trucks when it honestly started to pour harder than I had seen in FOREVER. I was so worried about keeping Kemp from getting too wet and with it coming down as hard as it was we were getting soaked. I ran to this little over hang where they sell food and waited there praying it would pass again. After about ten minutes it let up a bit. At that point we probably should have headed back to the car. It would have been a long walk and we hadn't gotten to see all of the best features we were planning on. So we kept on…we headed towards Elle's favorite "secret garden." Oh. My. Word. I haven't never been in quite  a storm in all my life. While we were there in this little enclosed tunnel made of bent trees it started to hail like I've never seen. It was INSANE!!! Everyone was getting soaked. I DIDN'T know what to do. I wanted to CRY. I was SO worried about Kemp and Tate was bawling. I didn't know how to get them back to the car. We were for sure about a mile away. We just sat there and sat there but the water was soaking through and we knew it wasn't going to let up. I ended up calling Toby and begging him for his help. He came to the rescue. I was running with the stroller through puddles and was trying to keep Tate from bawling…it was awful. Writing about it doesn't do it justice. But Elle and Gabby thought it was fun. Toby met me half way (by divine intervention I'm sure he was in the right place and the right time and able to get to me quickly.) What an adventure. Not exactly the day we were hoping for. - Her party was so much fun. It was a "Elle's Favorite Things" party. We did all of her favorite things, art, crafts, games, and food and topped it off with a pig cake since at this moment in time she is obsessed with pigs. I was so excited for the gift we got her.  We bought her a guitar! She recently has discovered she loves singing and she is quite good at it. So we figured a guitar and (we also got her a Ukalele,)  would be the perfect instrument for her to learn and sing a long to. So she's starting lessons next week. She was so excited. It was a great birthday and a great way to celebrate our ELLE!!!

The Downs Take St. George and the Beach Boys

The Downs and St. George kind of just go together like peanut butter and jelly or cookies and milk. We've gone done there together for as many years as I can remember. We got a couple of condos at Las Palmas and just played the whole time we were down there. Movies, shopping, swimming, movies, a beach boy concert, and Fiesta fun kept us plenty busy. Two memories we'll remember are a guy while we were mini golfing reached over the rope to get his golf ball and fell in the water at Fiesta Fun. That was the funniest thing ever. Hadler couldn't stop laughing. Another was the Beach Boy concert. It POURED RAIN the ENTIRE TIME. It was hilarious because Toby was so bugged:) Beach boys aren't his favorite and then to be so miserable with the rain and cold…it was a lose lose. It was Toby and I, Jordan and Kristee, and Jamison and Jace. We were huddled in blankets but since it was raining so hard the blanket was soaking wet so it ended up getting through the blanket and through our coats and clothes and everything. Toby couldn't take it so part way through he just left. The rest of us just laughed and laughed. Good times. It was a fun trip…until next time peace out St. George.

General Conference and Tate

Ha! Love that picture of Kemp at our traditional outing to Geckos after the Priesthood session of conference. Somone said he looks like Pres. Eyring. I wouldn't mind one bit if he ended up being like him:) I love conference weekend. It recharges me. Also I love this picture of Tate. Toby signed him up for Soccer again and….he's just not quite ready for it yet. It's a challenge for him to stay focused. His very favorite part is half time when he gets a little half time snack. Oh my gosh look at his face! That smile is KILLER. It makes me so happy to see him like that. He's the cutest.