The BEST Day!

The other day Hazel said 3 or 4 times, "This is the best day!"

Here are the happenings from her "best day".

1. Went to the park and played with Kimball, Josh, & Neil.

(Pedaled her trike all alone.)

2. Had peanut butter sandwiches for lunch.

3. Watched a movie for quiet time.

(Lady & the Tramp)

4. Went outside to play in the beautiful sunshine.

5. Came skipping into the house with some unidentified object that she had found underneath of the trampoline saying, "Mom what's dis?"

The identification: a dead baby bird.
(I think that ups all the Moms who are handed worms.)

6. Mom stripped all her bird-infested clothes off.

7. Washed hands & arms in the bathroom sink with antibacterial soap.

8. Washed hands a second time with hand sanitizer. (kills 98% of germs)

9. Washed hands and arms a 3rd time with another antibacterial soap.

10. Got dressed all by herself after Mom made her take all her bird infested-clothes off.

11. Played Peanut Butter Play dough at the table with Kimball.

(There were even chocolate chips, crackers, and fruit snacks to use with the play dough creation.)

12. Watched Mom soak & clean the dust pan (had held the bird) with straight ammonia.

13. Watched Mom spray & scrub the floor with bleach.

(This is where the bird landed when Mom screamed and made Hazel drop it.)

14. Fell asleep on the floor right in the middle of coloring a picture with a green marker.

This is the Best Day? Interesting!

Muddy Buddys

Yesterday we noticed an odd bit of silence in the house. There was no fighting, no whining, no noise. It was quiet. Too quiet. We went outside and witnessed the following series of events:

At that point, all you can do is laugh along with them!

Fruits of the "Labor"

So we were determined to have a good garden this year. Kimball had a blast starting tomato seeds in flats early this spring and had a lot of fun watching them grow until it was time to plant them in the garden. We also spent a lot of hard hours tilling the garden and planting good long rows of peas (planted twice), onions, chard, potatoes, beans (also planted twice).

Our tomatos have turned out beautifully, despite ......................................................................... ...........................................................................................................................................................

....let's say that the weeds became very aggressive rather than using the term....neglect.

We did however achieve a row of onions, (look closely in picture on top amongst the weeds), 2 green bean plants, a good healthy row of potatoes(already all harvested), and of course, our tomato crop is thriving!

Next Year......!

Arrows

Kimball: "Hazel do you know what an arrow is?"

Hazel: "NO"

Kimball: "It's like the Holy Ghost, it tells you which way to go."

8 Years of Wedded Bliss

Right back atcha toots.
Love, Andrew

P.S. I was a lot cheesier back then, but still just as in love and slightly less cheesy now - (mostly because of the milk-allergy thing)

You Fill Up My Senses

8 years ago today Andrew played his guitar and sang this song (Annie's Song by John Denver) to me as we sat at our wedding luncheon with friends and family.

We dated for a little over a year. Although, we were engaged for only about 5 weeks.

We were married in the Idaho Falls Temple. It was a busy day, but of course one of the best days of my life. It seemed like we had really endured a great deal to get to that point, as Andrew had undergone renal dialysis in the year we had dated, and a kidney transplant just 3 months before we were married.

The Reception

I've always had this feeling that wedding receptions have a lot in common with funerals, at least LDS style. A large number of friends and family come to stand in line and give hugs and shake hands. Then at the end of the line there is . . . not a body in a casket, but a wedding cake. (I know I am strange for this analogy, but that is what I am always reminded of.) So. . . I was determined that a wedding cake (or dead body, however you want to look at it) was a waste of money and that I didn't want one. Well, my family (Dad's idea) decided that we needed a wedding cake. Therefore, we got a wedding cake made out of Twinkies. It was just for laughs at the luncheon, but somehow the tacky thing found it's way to our reception. A tradition was started. Each of my sisters also opted out of a wedding cake (I guess my analogy was pretty persuasive) and ended up getting a Hostess cake instead. We got more comments on our cake than anyone has probably ever gotten on a wedding cake in all of history.

My favorite flowers are daisies, so naturally our wedding flowers were daisies. I asked the florist to make a "ring of daisies" to go in my sisters hair. I was so angry when we opened the fridge at the reception center to find that the "ring of daisies" looked more like it belong in the time of Caesar than at my wedding. What happened to a braided circle of small daisies? So here is a picture of my 3 sisters sporting their "ring of daisies".

When we walked out from our reception we found my little car an absolute mess. We drove my ugly little Geo Metro to the wedding instead of Andrew's car. We were sure glad that we did. Although, Andrew was told if he didn't hand over the keys to my car that the decorating party was going to go get his car too. So he reluctantly handed over the keys. When I walked outside to see what was done, I almost started to cry. We was so tired and exhausted we didn't want to have to deal with the mess. If you notice there were 25 lbs of rice inside the car.

That day was quite an exciting way to start out our lives together.

Andrew, now it has been 8 years and I am glad that we are on this journey of life together. You are my best friend. Together we have faced challenges, hard times, and moments of overwhelming joy and happiness, I wouldn't want to face those with anyone else. You are am amazing Father to the two most beautiful children. You are a patient and loving husband. I have been so blessed to have you in my life. John Lennon's words say it best: Grow old along with me. Whatever fate decrees, we will see it through. For our love is true. God bless our love, God bless our love.

Happy 8 year anniversary

I LOVE YOU!

(Eternity or Bust)

Bees Game

For family home evening last week we went with our friends, Russ & Christie Dickson, to the Salt Lake City Bees game. We had a great time! We didn't make it to the end of the game, but it was late and the kid's sugar high was wearing off. Kimball brought his mitt all prepared to catch a foul ball. He ended up crying all the way to the car and part way home because he didn't catch one.

Our whole family wore yellow, we are real geeks!

Neil, Christie, Kyle, Russ (aka: Bishop Dickson), & Josh

Daddy & Hazel "Thumbs Up"

I cannot believe how grown up he looks in this pictures.

I'm not quite ready for him to start school in 29 days.

Kimball & Josh are great friends!

These pictures of Neil & Hazel are full of personality. I laugh every time I see them.

The smile on Kyle's face is priceless.