Luke's "impressive meal"

Yesterday after we went to the dentist and both kids came away with no cavities the reward for them being good at the dentist was to go get McDonald's happy meals and then go to the trampoline park.

The kids were eating, Luke practically inhaling his, and with catsup all over his mouth and fingers out of nowhere he said, "I don't know why but this is such an impressive meal to me." Then, with a sigh, he added, "I just love it."

I nodded and smiled, and was just wishing the kabobs full of yummy marinated chicken and fresh veggies on the grill from the night before would have had the same effect!

Great Grandma Lee's 80th birthday party

Last night we went to a 80th birthday party for Cory's Grandma Bagshaw (Leora Bagshaw). The kids call her "Grandma Lee" but really she's their great grandma. The party was a luau theme and was a lot of fun. We bought the kids some Hawaiian outfits when we were in Hawaii over in anniversary so they fit right in with the theme!

Great Grandma Lee is a very sweet person and the kids love being around her. She always loves to talk to them and be around them.

Before the party I tried getting some pictures of the kids together in their outfits, which is always easier said than done, but I did get one that worked out.

Our family right now...in a nutshell

I was updating my public family blog (public to friends) with some recent updates and wanted to write a little description on our family since it had been so long since I had written anything. So I wrote a little something and then decided I should also put it in our journals because it sort of wrapped is up in a little nutshell pretty good. Here it is:

Luke is our curious, inquisitive, silly, creative, determined, good natured four year old boy.
Halle is our outgoing, friendly, talkative, sweet, sunshiny, girly and tough at the same time three year old girl.
They are best buddies.
We are their parents doing the best we can raising these two little rascals that we love with all our hearts.

Halle turns three

Halle's birthday was last week and Luke had a lot of fun at her party. She wanted a Yo Gabba Gabba birthday party, a funny little kid show that she loves, so that's what we had! It was just a little party with the four of us, Grandma Lori and Grandpa Sheldon, Uncle Jake and Aunt Jamie.  We ate hot dogs for lunch, then had Yo Gabba Gabba cupcakes, then she opened presents and we did a pinata.

The pinata was fun. Halle had fun trying to hit it. Luke has a really good swing! He was hitting it really good and hard, but the pinata was tough and they couldn't quite get it. So we asked Uncle Jake to join in, and he finally busted it open! It was filled with fruit snacks - Halle's favorite treat - and a few little toys.

Halle wanted to go swimming on her birthday, so after the party everyone went home and Cory and I took Halle and Luke to the Herriman Rec Center and went swimming there. They have some fun water slides and things and the kids loved it. It was a fun day.

A child's prayer

Last night Luke was saying his personal prayer before bedtime and I was eavesdropping. Here's how it went:

"Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for all the beautiful things in the world. I'm sorry you are dead. I love you. Amen."

Ohhhh. It just melted my heart while also making me bite my tongue so I wouldn't laugh out loud. Sometimes kids say the sweetest things that really make you remember how sweet and innocent they really are. He seems so old these days, he's a big four and a half year old and is getting so rough and tough and suddenly has this obsession for wrestling. But it's these little moments that he is still learning and growing, still my little boy, and still so sweet.

After he was done saying his prayers I went to him and gently told him that Heavenly Father and Jesus aren't dead, they are just up in heaven waiting for us to come back to them someday.

Then this morning I overheard Luke and Halle talking and Luke said, "Halle, did you know that Heavenly Father and Jesus aren't dead? They are just up in heaven waiting for us to return."

So cute. 

I love the little things about being a mom.

As I was writing out that little story I picture kept coming to my mind of when Luke was little and saying his prayers. I couldn't remember how old he was exactly but I started digging around in my computer picture files and finally found it.

 Is that not the cutest thing? It was taken right before Halle was born, so he was about 18 months old. So crazy how fast they grow.  Again I am reminded to cherish the little things. :)

The sunflower

When we got home from St. George the other day Luke and Halle went in the backyard and Luke came back inside all excited and said, "Mom, I have something really impressive to show you!"

I asked what it was and he led me outside to show me that the sunflower seed he planted and gave to me for Mother's Day finally bloomed! I was probably just as excited to see it had bloomed as he was! He has been taking such good care of it all summer long. Just about every morning he wakes up and one of the first things he has to do is go outside and check on the sunflower and water it. About a week or so into it Halle was feeling a little left out that she didn't have a sunflower seed to take care of too so we went to the store and bought some sunflower seeds and planted one in a little container for her and kept hers and Luke's outside alongside each other. So each day the kids would go water and check on their sunflowers. We had to save those little flower carton blooms once or twice because of storms and made sure we were taking good care of them. Halle's hasn't bloomed yet but it looks like it will now any day.

We ended up planting both Luke and Halle's sunflowers the other night right front and center in our flower garden that is directly out from our back porch so we will be able to see them all the time. We are excited for Halle's to bloom.