My Cute Kids

It took quite a few attempts to get pictures cute enough to send out to Grandma's and Grandpa's for Easter, but it was worth it... Here they are:

I love my kids!

House Pictures, FINALLY...

Sorry it's taken me so long to post these... I guess I was waiting for all our projects to be done before I took pictures, but I'm coming to realize that they'll never be done. Oh well. Here's our little heaven on earth...!

The Backyard was one of the main selling points for us... Lots of room to play & lots of fruit trees (apricot, plum, pear & apple, as well as grape vines!) & a big garden space!

WE LOVE OUR NEW HOUSE!

This is the Latest Edition to our House!

Isn't this picture gorgeous?!

Well, it's the latest edition to our new house! We've been eyeing it for awhile, waiting for our tax return, & researching the best deal we could get on it, and it is finally hanging up on our living room wall.

Now to explain our expensive purchase...

Laron cleaned carpets with his dad while growing up & saw many really, really nice houses in Park City and stuff. But he said some of them had these amazing 1 or 2 pieces of artwork in their homes (like this one) that just brought the spirit into their homes & let you know what they felt was really important in their life. So about a month before we moved into our new house, Laron came home one day and explained this story to me & announced that he'd found the picture we needed for our house. I was a little hesitant after hearing how much it cost, but after I went and saw it, I was hooked. There is just something about the sunset and the water and Christ with the little boys... It's a great picture for Skyler to grow up seeing every day, and I really do think it helps bring the spirit into our house. So thanks Laron for the great idea! Now my only problem is making the rest of the room match the elegance of it...

Skyler's Fears

I'm not sure why, but Skyler is terrified of loud noises. So the other day, Laron was building some shelves under our stairs, which meant he was drilling for several hours. This also meant that I had to comfort him & hold him & cover his ears for him for several hours. I tried distracting him once by giving him something to eat, but this was how happy he was about it. He tried covering his own ears while he snuck in a bite every here & there, but nothing seemed to completely comfort him. We finally had to just go to the store for BOTH of our sanity's sakes... For being such a "tough" boy most of the time, it surprises me how scared he can be when it comes to loud noises.

Meet our Backyard Neighbors

I don't know if you can tell, but this horse is reaching THROUGH the barbed wire fence and eating the grass on the other side.

Even they must know the saying, "The grass is always greener on the other side."

Quoting Books

I guess you know you're a good mom when your kids start quoting books you've read them... I hadn't realized that Skyler was to that point yet until the other day when he picked up the book "The Gingerbread Man" and started reading it to me. Even cuter though was the other day when he went over to Kimberly, and while stroking her face recited the words to another book we've read a lot:

I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always.

As long as I'm living,

My baby you'lll be.

Doesn't that just make your heart melt? Oh, it sure did mine. These are the moments of motherhood I hope I never forget.

My Hard-Working Boys

Brotherly/Sisterly Love

Kimberly adores her big brother Skyler (at least most of the time)! Although sometimes she gets a little smothered in his love, there are those moments when you can just catch them smiling at each other & I can't wait for them to grow up a little so they can really play. But I'm sure when that day finally comes, I'll be wishing for these precious ones back!

Helping Himself

For our Family Home Evening treat the other day, we decided to have ice-cream.  Laron got everything out & ready to go, we turned our backs for a second, and this is what we found...

Skyler helping himself!
Yummy!
He was pretty proud of himself!

"Help Me Find the Way"

Lately when Skyler needs help with something, he says this:

"Mom, help me. Help me find the way."

If you don't recognize that phrase, it's from the song "I am a Child of God."

And who says parents aren't influential?

I Love These Shoes!

There is something about these shoes that I just love...

I think they make him look older or something.

Either way, they're BOTH cute (Skyler and the shoes)!

"This is the way we get up in the Morning"

I had to make this for a Digital Camera class I took, so if you have a higher-speed internet, you might want to take a look... The quality of the video automatically is reduced when I put it on here, but it's still cute anyway. Enjoy!

Oh, and for the record, it took me 3 hours to get Skyler to pose for all these pictures!

Homeowners

I looked out our back window yesterday & saw this... Although I'm not a fan of yards that are cluttered with children's toys and junk, it made me smile because I realized that we HAD a yard to clutter.

Sometimes I can't believe that we actually own a home! It's something that we've dreamed about for so long, that it kind-of seems surreal. Pretty amazing.

The Big Moving Day

So, the big move went well... I think we worked everyone pretty hard, including Skyler.
Thanks so much for everyone's help!
Sorry we took up so much of your Saturday!

To make a long story short, it took us TWO HOURS to get this dumb couch into our basement family room...
Good thing it's comfortable! Thanks Dad!

Once I get our house unpacked and put together a little bit more, I'll post more pictures of our new house.

Until then you'll just have to be curious!

Getting Ready for the Big Move!

We tried to really get ready for our big move the week before

so that it wouldn't be so bad the week after...

The main "project" we did was to paint a wall in the living room

(it was a sponged-on green color before).

Skyler wasn't about to be left out! I was really hesitant to let Skyler help us, because I was SURE

he'd mess something up, but Laron talked me into it.

He sure had fun & was such a great painter!

Daddy's Little Girl

My Mom made the comment the other day that I never put pictures of Laron on here... But in all fairness, Laron's not really one for getting his picture taken. So, without further ado, here's a picture I had to twist his arm to take. Laron with his little girl... Most of the time when we're together, I'm naturally on baby-duty & Laron's on Skyler-duty, but it's cute to see them interact with each other during those occasional moments when their paths cross. I can tell he already has a soft spot in his heart for his little girl, & I'm glad. I wouldn't have it any other way!
This is the first picture we've been able to take of Kimberly smiling. She smiles quite a bit now, which really makes things so much funner, but our camera has such a delay to it that by the time the second flash goes off, she's usually
wide-eyed & curious looking instead of cute & smiley.
And don't you love that dimple!

Kimberly's Blessing Dress

So I reallized the other day that I never took a picture of JUST Kimberly in her blessing dress... So, it's a few weeks late, but I still wanted the picture none-the-less.

Wow! I'm sure glad her Great, Great, Great Grandmother could make this for her, because I sure wouldn't even know where to start. I bet when she made it she had no idea it would be

passed down for 5 generations!