While Mommy is away, the little man plays....

I've just started my busy season at work, and we are so lucky to have my parents live only a mile from the spa. Kaden goes to their house and just plays his little heart out. The weather has been beautiful and he LOVES to be outside. Papa and Nana have been entertaining him to exhaustion and he has loved every minute. Here are a few (sorry so many!) pictures of the little man....SO DIRTY, GRUBBY, and HAPPY!


For some reason, seeing him in his little overalls and hat, he totally reminds me of Huck Finn.


Riding the ATV with Papa...his little face is SO dirty! When I got home and took off his pants to change his diaper, dirt went flying everywhere.


Little cruisin' bruiser....he's been helping Nana plant flowers.


Fascinated with the watering can




All Smiles

25 on the 25th....Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday was my 25th birthday, and it was great. My mom took me shopping on Friday, to lunch, and for ice cream. She totally spoiled me rotten and we had an awesome day. It was fun to spend the day with her. John-Isaac came along and he was so much fun. Yesterday we celebrated with the family which is always my favorite way to party. I even got strawberry shortcake, once of my favorites. Kaden sure loved it too. I felt so special with all of the wonderful gifts, sweet cards, and phone calls I got from friends and family.


Little helper...he enjoyed ripping the paper and smashing the boxes, and making a big mess of everything. I think he thought it was HIS birthday.


My beautiful mom helped make my special day perfect.


My little piglet


Little fam, amid the wrapping paper mess. I am SO excited about that green tea kettle by the way.

Snow.....in May? In the END of May? Yes...it is true.

We had originally planned to go watch the Iron Horse bike race today, up in Silverton. Well....our plans were thwarted by mother nature. Yes....this is what we woke up to this morning.


At least this time we know it won't last long...in fact within a few hours it was completely gone.


The strange thing, is that only a few days ago it was 85 degrees. I guess you never can predict the weather in Colorado.

Where does time go?

Wow...it is really crazy how time flies. I remember when my mom told me she was pregnant with my little brother. I was 5 and thought I was so old and mature...hah. I took him under my wing from the beginning and probably acted more like a second mom than a sister. Now, I am his sister and his friend. He has been such a joy in all of our lives. Sometimes I catch myself still thinking of him as twelve...but the truth is, he's all grown up now. I am so proud of the person he has become, and is becoming. He is genuine, strong, mature, and kind to everyone. He has his head on straight and makes good choices. He is so much fun too. We have a great time together and I am so happy to be able to call him my little, BIG brother.

He graduated High School on Mother's Day. The ceremony was actually very nice. It was an exciting day for him. It was a bitter-sweet day for us. Congratulations "Bud". I love you and I am proud of you!

We're still just a bunch of goof-balls.

With Uncle Steve, Mom, Dad, and Nonie

It was so fun to see a few of my friends. Here I am with the Beckys.

Mother's Day (a little late). My AMAZING mom....

She is my mom, my best friend, my soul mate. I love her! I can't go a day without talking to her AT LEAST once! I can tell her anything and everything, and she always listens. She offers me the best advice, helps me see things clearly, but most of all, she is there for me no matter what.

We have a special connection. I respect her as my mom, I look up to her, and admire her. At the same time, she is also my friend. We can laugh, and have oh so much fun together. We can be silly or serious. We also seem to be strangely connected. Sometimes she will call and say, "is your ankle hurting today? Because mine is"....and guess what?!?! usually mine is too! One time I had a weird allergic reaction and broke out in hives everywhere. I called her to tell her, and she had been itching like crazy for the previous 10 minutes. Yes, it is very weird.

I have countless memories with my mom. She has always been there in my life, 100%. I remember forts she built us, going on walks exploring our own little world. She used to set up chairs for Michaela and I to stand on while we made cookies together....with our aprons dangling to our ankles. We made crafts, colored pictures, read books, listened to music. We went on picnics, rode our bikes to the ice cream parlor, and dug in the dirt with spoons. I always felt safe and secure with my mom. I always felt her love and warmth. She has always had infinite hugs, kisses, and "I love you's"...she still does.

My mom has been my biggest fan. She was always the one waiting for me at the finish line after a race. She has driven thousands of miles and sat in the bleachers and on the sidelines in extreme heat, wind, rain, snow, you name it....she was always there cheering. She never missed an awards ceremony, concert, or special event that was important to me. She has always expressed encouragement and awarded me with her approval.

I love to see her play with Kaden. To do things with him that I remember doing as a child. He is lucky to have her so close. I sometimes feel guilty about having to work, and not being able to be with him as much as I would like. It is always so reassuring knowing that he is with his Nana. He is blessed, and so am I.

My mom is always ready to help in any way she can. She has driven Matt to countless appointments, watches Kaden when I am working or need a night out, picks up things for me here and there and will never let me pay her back, etc. I could go on and on, but she is honestly the most selfless, caring, and charitable person I know. Her faith and perseverance are a shining example to me. She is positive, upbeat, and always sees the bright side to everything. She is spiritually connected and in tune with those around her. I hope to someday be just like she is, or even 1/2 of who she is. I love her, and am thankful for her everyday. She is my mom, my soul mate, my best friend.


4 generations. My mom's mom, Merilyn, my Nonie, is so special to me. She has been very involved in our lives and we have a close relationship. I have endless memories of her and special things we have done together. We have spent nearly every Christmas, Thanksgiving, and 4th of July together. She (and Papa) have been to numerless recitals, track meets, graduations, birthday parties, and any other reason we can find to celebrate. I love her and hope we have many more celebrations together.

Since I have never mentioned it before...I LOVE BEING A MOM! I love this little boy more than words expression. I never knew I would be capable of so much love. He is the light of my life.

Nature Walk...

It has been cold and rainy this week but today was beautiful. We took advantage of the warm, sunny weather and went outside. There is a big open field in front of our house, so we walked through it and on the road around it. We were in heaven. The birds were singing, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I could have stayed out there all day.




I should submit this picture to Nike. He is learning to run and is getting fast! I love that this picture is all blurry except for his shoe. He was ecstatic to be outside. He was everywhere, checking out everything! I don't even know how many times he fell down....he was filthy when we went back inside...but SO happy.


absolutely DELIGHTFUL...


After realizing that Dandelions are the most disgusting tasting thing on earth, he quite enjoyed looking at them, smelling them, and coloring everthing with them. I love these pictures. I love it when Kaden will sit STILL on my lap.

Kaden is getting faster than Matt. It's really funny to watch Matt "chase" after him. Kaden gets excited, squeals and runs as fast a he can. Right now it is a game of cat and mouse, but soon Matt won't be able to get a hold of the little guy. Hopefully by then Kaden will know what "come here" means and he will be good for his daddy. The other day we were at the bank and I was busy with a transaction and Matt was in charge of Kaden. I turned around to see Matt walking as fast as he could chasing the little man saying, "Kaden, where are you? Daddy's gonna catch you". Kaden was laughing and racing into the cubicles and visiting everyone. It was quite funny, but I am sure people were wondering what was wrong with us and why we couldn't control our child.

He's so excited!

There has been a HUGE pile of pine needles, sticks, branches, etc collecting in the open field in front of our house. This winter made a mess of our neighborhood. Finally, today they burned it and there was a firetruck and ambulance there. Kaden thought that was great and inspected them quite closely.

He found himself a nice little walking stick. We were outside for over an hour and it was a challenge getting Kaden back in to take a nap. I am an outdoor-sy girl, so we make a good match. We will spend a lot of time exploring this summer.

My Little Pal

Baby on the go. That is what he's always been. Our schedules are sort of hectic and this poor guy spends half of his life in the car...at least that is how it seems. He is so content just to be where we are, he rarely protests. I love to look in the rear-view mirror and see him smile and wave to me, or to see him dancing in his carseat along to the music. Lately we have been especially busy. Matt is taking a few classes, we are finishing things with our construction financing, and have been spending a lot of time with friends. In all the frenzy, I am trying to make sure Kaden still gets a little bit of fun time. We stop at the park as often as we can. He loves to be outside. I am SO happy to say, this child has almost zero interest in the TV. I am so glad about that, and thrilled to be able to spend time building things, coloring, walking outside, etc. I hope he always has an imagination and is ready for adventure. I also hope that I can somehow fill my mind with creative ideas!

Kaden is my pal. He is my sidekick. Wherever I am, he is. I LOVE IT! We aren't thinking of more kids yet, but it is so hard to imagine another one. I love having my little man by my side. I am sure that when the time comes, our hearts and capacity for love will swell. But, for now, I will soak up every moment with my little pal.


Peek-a-boo


WEEEEEEEEE!


What a brave boy. He loves to climb up the steps to the slide, and once he gets there he is so excited to go down, that he just leaps in head first. Half the time I haven't even made my way to the bottom to catch him before he goes shooting out. It's so fun to watch him. He is so full of delight he just giggles and giggles. When he gets excited he runs and lifts his legs up high and swings his arms all over the place. I can hardly stand it, he's so cute.

Roommate Reunion!!!!!

A few weeks ago my roommates from our freshman year of college all got together for a little reunion. We try to do this as often as we can, and it is something I look forward to. We met up in Highland at Traci's house. She was so nice to let us take over while she was out of town (and I am sure she was glad to be gone!). We were all instant friends when we met and have been the best of friends ever since. I am so grateful for these girls, and their influence and positive example in my life. I had a hard time leaving home my first year at school, and having these girls there made it so much easier. We were inseparable, adventurous, silly, and fun-loving. We have kept in touch and been there for each other through many ups and downs. It is crazy to see how different our lives are now and where we have come since we first met. Our friendship never changes and still is as strong as ever. When we get together it's like not a day has passed. After this weekend, I felt like I had years worth of counseling, motivation, and laughs. I also must not forget to mention we probably had a years worth of food too. We ate and ate....and had lots and lots of ice cream. That is what a vacation is all about!


Ash, Andrea, Lace, Amber, Jill, Me. Love these girls so much!


Just demonstrating my excitement. This weekend we spent together was beyond fun....it was everything I needed and more. I haven't laughed that hard in years, and I loved every minute with my amazing friends.


Two redheads....Amber and I. She rode up with me and it was so great to have her company. We talked about anything and everything and I loved feeling like I could totally open up, and that she could too. The trip seemed to just fly by.

Lacey and Andrea. So excited for Lace...her baby girl, Natalie, is due in June!

Pampering ourselves...getting pedicures. It's only the 2nd one I have had in my life....LOVED it!

Kaden was definitely not lacking in attention. He had 6 mommies the whole weekend and got a little spoiled. He was perfect though! I still cannot believe how easy-going, mellow, and truly happy this little boy is. He is a special one indeed.

Beautiful friends....Lace, Jill, Amber.

We went to Orem to the comedy club, "Wiseguys". We went on a night they had a hypnotist. I was a little skeptical. Somehow, we managed to coerce Ashley into getting up and it was the most hilarious thing I have ever seen. I laughed so hard I was crying.

Workin' it!

We totally traveled back in time....yes, I am envisioning this picture 6 years ago. We used to do mud masks ALL the time! We actually gave our FHE brothers facials once. They loved it....since we were so experienced. Anyway, this was a fun thing to do and we were so ridiculous and "drunken tired". I felt bad for Kara and Craig, who had to deal with us totally taking over the house.

With Jill and Ashley.

As time goes on, I realize more and more how lucky we were to be put together that year in college. We are forever friends and have experienced so much together. I will forever cherish and be grateful for these friendships.