The ZOO!

Another fun day spent at the ZOO! My favorite thing to do was to take hundreds of pictures of the kids watching the animals...which resulted in most of my pictures being their backsides. I loved watching them learn and experience each exhibit with fascination.

We made a pit stop in the middle of the zoo and ate some lunch. It turned out that most of the geese were really hungry as well. Don't feed the animals they say...but what if they just come up to you and eat out of your hands?

I asked the kids what they loved about the day and unanimously they said feeding the birds a cup of nectar...and the snakes.

Cousins!

Claire and Hannah came into town and we couldn't resist going to one of our favorite parks to cool off. The kids (mainly Claire) caught minnows and itty bitty craw fish. We played in the sand, picnicked, and had a train ride. Leia and I looked for broken pieces of glass on the banks, re-applied sunscreen on the kiddlets, and ate cherries while watching them have a ball in the sunshine.

Summer = Swimming!

Sing: The sun was shining just the way we like it, and we have been swimming the summer away.

I love playing so hard in the water, that when you are finished 5+ hours latter, you can eat an entire cow plus a chicken and still have room for a smoothie! Then you hit the pillow HARD and are out for the rest of the night.

We had a great time at Stacey's, playing with all the cute kiddos, visiting, a few jumping and balancing competitions, laughing, and getting beauty lessons from Mamie and her luscious red lips! Owww owww!

Kendall

Something happens to you when you become a mother. Your eyes are opened to a whole other life. One you never knew existed. You never knew your heart could feel such joy when you and your little one leaves the store hand in hand and as you step into the parking lot, he tells you that he loves you.

You never knew your heart could feel so much pain as he sobs after skinning his knee. It literally rips your heart out and as you hold and kiss him better, you wish it was you instead.

Or you hear funny breathing in the middle of the night and run to his room to find him with bluish lips, a fever, and a bad case of croup. You don't think twice about setting up "camp" with him to make sure he is comfortable and getting rest. Steam treatments, Vicks vapor rubs, Motrin, and 3 am calls to the ER are instinct now and you wait with anxiety until his fever breaks.

Having children grows your heart, you love deeper, life is better than your dreams and you want every good memory to last and last.

The simple things: smiles, laughing, prayers uttered for lost toys, mending an argument with your older brother, being in awe of the creation of a grilled cheese sandwich, and reading stories with your "ducky" blanket on my lap are precious victories that penetrate my core.

And it feels so good to feel so deeply.


Your outfit on the way to swimming lessons...cowboy boots, goggles, and a severe case of bed head, complete with chocolate chips on your cheek from your breakfast pancakes.



You make me so happy. My heart literately swells when I hear your little legs running as fast as the can to jump up into my lap.

This Boy

Nathan age:6

"Mom, do you know what hail is? It's a rain and snow mix up."

"You get to be as old as Granny, (she is 92) if you don't eat any sugar."

"Oh geez, there's that alarm again going off in my head." After talking to him, I realized it was his ears ringing.

"We are playing red light, green light. We are having so much fun! We are just addicted to it!"

"Attaboy! That's how they say it in Alaskan."

While taking a bath, "I need some air conditioner in my hair."

I was cleaning out some papers and found one from when he was 3 and a half.
While twirling his lasso: "Just a minute, I have to potty train it!"

Squeeky Clean

The best part of a bath? Tons and tons of BUBBLES!

Celebrating Dad

Justin's biggest dream came true on Father's day weekend. He got to go shooting and get some of his manliness out on the range. We, the kids and I stayed back to make sure all the preperations for fathers day were running smoothly.


Homemade wrapping paper with the kids hand prints (it's a fathers day tradition)-check
Gifts- check
Questionnaires about dad- check
Menu for breakfast in bed- check
Church clothes ironed for all three boys- check
Dessert made for family dinner- check
Slumber party beds ready in our room- check

The day was so relaxing. The boys actually gave Justin two breakfasts in bed, and he like a good sport gobbled them both down with a smile. We stayed in bed most of the morning, each taking turns passing around Justin's new shaver, trying to figure out how it works.

One of my favorite quotes is: "Enjoy the little things in life...for one day you'll look back and realize they were big things." -Robert Brault

I feel like Justin really soaks in the boys and truly enjoys our "little things." They are lucky to have a dad like him. We are all lucky to have him.



Dinner was delicious. A big man feast. I loved spending the day thinking about "dads." Especially mine, because I love him pretty much more than anyone.

*This picture was taken on the same bleachers that my mom and dad held hands for the first time in 7th grade at Tibbets Jr High.

A Treat

Mammy invited to boys over for a camp out in the backyard. She is fun, brave, and now I'm pretty sure she is tired.

We dropped them off and soon after we got a call. It was Nathan. He said to Justin, "Dad, I'm not sure about this whole tent thing." He reassured him it was going to be a blast and turned out he was right.

Mammy was telling the boys all kinds of stories and they were loving it! It was getting late and Nathan was trying to be polite and said, "Mammy, I'm pretty sure it's way past my bedtime."

They woke up to an outside breakfast fit for the King of England himself! Pancakes, bacon, eggs, and hash browns, all Mammy style. Then Papa pulled a Grandad and they all spent the morning watering the lawn.

Todd

Todd got to come for a quick trip with school to check out some possible intern programs. It was so fun to go kidnap him and take him to the Cheesecake Factory!

I have a special place in my heart for this brother. He is one of a kind. Seriously, there is no one like him.

Colorado

These boys are just skimming the surface of things to see in a Colorado summer. Tame and tired, they settle in to take a little nap. They seem so sweet.

My kids think these are Santa's real reindeer.

*My mom was turning the corner to enter into a residential neighborhood in the valley and bam...two big guys. They were so close that she did not need to use the zoom feature on her camera. Crazy.

New Form of Entertainment

My dad started his own blog....and I LOVE IT!

A Fun Game

One of our favorite books in the world is "The Treasure Hunt Book" by Klutz. This book has provided endless hours of fun. It has 110 ready to hide clues. The boys LOVE it. We use it for FHE, company, or just a good boredom buster.

If you have older kids, they can hide the clues for younger ones. I usually have prizes from the dollar store on hand for the "treasure" but my kids are fine just doing the hunt over and over too.

There are pockets in the front and back of the book to hold your clues when you are done using them. I plan to laminate all the pieces so that this game sticks around for awhile.

Go here to get one.

Little Boys.

In a blink this stage is going to be over...and I'm not going to miss it. I'm going to suck in each day and go to bed with no regrets.

First Thing

I LOVE how kids look and act when they wake up very first thing in the morning! Bed head, groggy voice and sleepy eyes. It is an irresistible recipe for snuggling. Nathan had gotten in bed with us during the night and I just happened to have my camera next to me when he woke up.

We started to giggle and laugh and it ended up being one of those mornings we could not stop!

I love this kids' personality...so fun!

Letters

The other day we all were writing letters to different people. Nathan brought me his. He must be missing our elf, Frizz who left us after Christmas to be with Santa.

"Dear Santa,
Have a nice time with your elves.
Love,
Nathan"

Perfect Pancakes!

I have been on a search for the best pancake recipe for...a long time! These, my friends, are your lucky discs of joy. We love them so much, here at our house, that most of the time these are what we serve when we have "upside down dinner."

Serve with a little butter, real maple syrup, scrambled eggs, a side of turkey bacon, and a glass of orange juice. Or just by themselves- they won't disappoint.

I left out one little secret... they are whole wheat!

2 cups ground white wheat
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk- I use low fat = still good

Mix all together and pour 1/4 cup of batter on hot buttered griddle.

I got this from my mom, who got this years ago from Caroline Shaw. I'm passing it down and hope it ends up with my great, great, granddaughters.

*I have to add that my mom thinly slices bananas on them when they are on the griddle and boy howdy...good!

Kendallisms

Look! I gave my corn a haircut!

The Past Meets the Future...

When I was little and lived in New Mexico, we would come to Colorado for summer visits to see Aunt Pam and Uncle Wes, Tiger and Allison. A highlight of our trip always included a visit to "Airplane Park." As we reminisce about those days, who ever would have thought that we would continue on the tradition with the next generation?

So here we are with all these cousins doing the same fun things we used to do. Wave and ride the train, catch crawdads and minnows, eat cherry picnics, and spend HOURS in the stream-running in the water and squishing the sand between our toes, laughing and not wanting the day to end.


Later that night, Papa lit up the sky as he put on a firework show for the kids. I love how in this picture, my mom and I have the same expression...awwwwww.