Jonathan First Triathlon

Jonathan competed in the first of the three triathlons he plans to do this summer. He has been training and studying for the past 9 months to be ready for today. He did awesome!! If you know Jonathan, he is very competitive and can push himself harder than anyone would ever think. He finished third in his age group. I am not sure out of how many but probably about 30-40.

This is a picture of the transition after swimming getting ready to ride his bike.

He just finished the bike ride and getting ready to run the 5k.

Sprint to the finish.

I am so proud of my man. I was getting choked up watching him. I have been blessed with an amazing husband.

The boys didn't really know what was going on but they were excited to see daddy.

Jonathan's finishing time was 1 hour 14 minutes. If you know anything about triathlons you would know that this is an amazing time--especially for a first timer who works full-time, serves in church, has a needy wife and children, and works a side job to pay for all his tri stuff.

The month of May was filled with Fun

Celebrating my Dad's, Jonathan's, and my birthdaysMy brother-in-law, Jonathan, loves chocolate cake. As you can see from the empty plate. Rylee takes after her dad. Jordan eats the cake, and Parker eats the ice cream.

Beautiful Kaya
Jordan or Parker's future wife. Love ya Lori!!

Mother's Day

Jonathan and our neighbor planned a delicious meal for Carol and me. We had nachos supreme. Yummy!!! Then they sang us a song they had prepared--Wonderful Tonight. They sounded amazing! Parker and Jordan had to share their date for the evening--Little Lucy.

New beds for Parker and Jordan

Actually these are their cribs. The kits to turn them into toddler beds cost $175/kit. So I had a carpenter cut 4 posts. I then sanded and stained them to semi-match the cribs. It is hard to tell in the picture but the front legs are the posts I made.

Three handsome boys!! I am a lucky Lady.
Look at those smiles. Jordan is in front and Parker in the back.

Our First Family Vacation with the boys (besides visiting family)

Our neighbors invited us to Yellowstone back in March. Had we know that it would snow might not have gone, but hotels were booked and non-refundable. We had such a wonderful time. Both Jonathan and I think the weekend was a success.

The boys cried the majority of the way there--Parker for his bike and Jordan for home. We bought the new DVD players on our way up there. Great investment.

From the moment we entered the park we saw tons of bison.

We were able to see quite a few beautiful elk. In the trees to the right of this picture was a bear.
He was a distance away; however, we could see him clearly with binoculars.

This is one of my favorite faces that Jordan makes.

Parker and Daddy stretching their legs on the way home.

Memorial Day
My sister Leslie and her husband Gabe flew in from Texas to spend the weekend with us. We had such a nice day in Provo Canyon. The weather was amazing, the food was delicious, and we had a lot of fun!!!

ParkerJordan
The rest of the pictures are of Parker. Jordan doesn't like getting his picture taken. I love how Parker wears his hat.

We missed you, Lachelle!!

Undies and Stitches

The boys are in the stage of wanting to wear underwear, but still quite unsure about the potty and what to do with it. After an hour of sitting on the toilet and constantly reminding them to tell me when they need to go peepee, they both peed their pants. I think they are a little young because they didn't even understand why their "undies" were wet. I am going to try to keep them interested but go very slowly.

This video is for Auntie Leslie!!




Look at Jordan's eyebrow. He tripped on Wednesday and hit is eye really hard on the coffee table. He sure was a good boy about getting three stitches. Parker is more traumatized by the experience.

What I learned this birthday...

As a child, birthdays are really exciting because of the presents and cake. When you get older, truthfully, birthdays can be a little depressing. I am quickly seeing my youth run away. I still remember how sad I was to turn 18. My wonderful young women's leader and good friend, Kellee Belnap, made me a Barbie cake. Today I turned 27, nearly 10 years older. To be honest I was a little depressed this morning. Jonathan would be gone all day until 8:45pm, and I had no plans. As my sweet children played on our patio, I prayed that I could be happy and have a good day. Well...I had a wonderful day. Why? FRIENDS and FAMILY!! I learned today that I have so many wonderful people in my life. People really do care about me. Thank you friends. You don't know how much your calls, texts, messages, wishes, and small gifts meant. My day was truly special.

The following video may appear pathetic but really is a sweet memory. I am glad that I could spend my birthday with my very own boys!!

Our Easter Traditions

We are excited to teach our children about the beauty and importance of Easter. One way that we are going to teach them, is by celebrating the Easter Bunny, the Easter egg hunts, and decorating eggs the day before Easter and calling it our "Spring Celebration." As our children get older, the activities will change. Some ideas are going to see new Spring animals, going to a petting zoo, planting flowers, going on a hike to see the first signs of Spring, and doing all the traditional fun Easter traditions.

The special day will be Easter Sunday. In order to help our children fully understand the significance of our Savior's resurrection we want to focus solely on Jesus Christ on Sunday. We are excited to do activities that teach about the Savior, His sacrifice, His atonement, and most of all His resurrection.

I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that He loves each person individually. I know that He loves me. I can recognize His love every day. I can feel His love when I seek Him. I know that through Him, we all can return to our God to live in eternal happiness.