Yellow Dresses

Taking pictures before church is like pulling teeth (as witnessed by the face Joy is making in the first picture), but I tried a couple weeks ago anyway. They actually turned out cuter than I thought (I didn't think I got any keepers), but sometimes candid, unruly moments are the best. We got back from Cincinnati late last night. It was a busy, fun, useful trip. All the tests went well and BethAnne is doing great. More posts will follow about our adventures in Cincinnati. Have a great weekend!

Love,
Aubrey

 

 

 

 

Smores!

We had a great Memorial Day today. I got to sleep in, then Grace, BethAnne and I went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 while Joy and Mark took a nap. Later we had a BBQ and ate outside on the patio (a first at this house), then we had FHE and afterwards we roasted marshmellows on the BBQ burner for smores! It was such a great day!

Grace kept burning her marshmellows, which frustrated her, but she had fun anyway.

Joy was just happy with all the new fun things we were doing. She loves the outdoors!

BethAnne was a marshmellow roasting pro!

Such a beautiful evening!

Joy really wanted to get the marshmellows down.

I think she was still thinking about how to get a marshmellow

Marshmellow success!

Sweet Daisy. We are really loving our sweet puppy who saves us so much time in floor cleaning. We had a bit of a scare with her this week because I accidentally dropped one of BethAnne's blood pressure pills on the floor and Daisy gobbled it up. Daisy is really small so we were worried that it would be a life-threatening overdose. The vet said we could bring her in to get her stomach pumped, but then Mark remembered that Daisy usually throws up when he takes her on drives. So he and the big girls took her on a drive (towards the 24-hour Vet), but she wasn't throwing up. So we asked BethAnne to say a prayer, and as she did, Daisy threw up. And she threw up twice after too. It was a neat experience and our Daisy is doing great.

Pretty Blue Eyes!

This is our garden this year. It has some herbs and a jalepeno plant and an upside down tomato plant. We wanted to plant a real garden but Daisy loves to dig up good soil, and she eats seeds and plants. So this was our compromise.

Have a great week! Happy Birthday Lisa! We love you all!
Love,
Aubrey

Sunshine Joy

I thought I'd take some cute pictures of Joy in her new sunshine yellow outfit. She's our little sunshine!

Kid Comedy and Cakes

This evening there is a carnival at BethAnne's school. As part of the fun, and to help out, we made and decorated some cakes (there will also be a cake decorating contest, then the cakes will be used for a cake walk). BethAnne decorated three (all by herself, ideas and everything) and Grace decorated one (the top picture). Grace's cake is more decoration than cake, but quite creative nonetheless.

Kid Comedy-

Last weekend I picked up some Ben and Jerry's ice cream for Mark and I (which we usually don't splurge on). I got two kinds, mine was Chubby Hubby, which has strange sentimental meaning for me because I got some for Mark on his first birthday that I knew him . Anyway, on Monday morning I came downstairs and Grace was playing on the computer and I looked over on the counter and there was the top to my Chubby Hubby ice cream. I knew where to find the carton because it's happened before. In the garbage can was the rest of the ice cream (she likes to eat some and then throw the rest away (she's been known to do it with half gallons too). Anyway, I was really upset and I told her that she was not allowed to have ice cream without permission (which she knows) and I told her that that particular ice cream was special to me. I had a hard time letting it go, so she got a few reminders that day about not doing that again. The next day, I came downstairs after putting Joy down for a nap and what does she have in her hands- a spoon and Daddy's carton of Ben and Jerry's. She quickly said "there's more left if you want some". She could tell I was mad so she said "Was this ice cream special to you too?"

---
On a related note, we were driving to Grandma's house yesterday so the kids could be babysat while Mark and I went to the Temple. The girls were fighting a bit, so I told them "You guys need to be good at Grandma's house, no fighting. I need you to be on your best behavior." Then came Grace's voice, as serious as I've ever heard her- "Mom, I am ALWAYS on my best behavior."

Have a Happy weekend!
Love,
Aubrey

Kid Comedy

BethAnne- "Why did the chicken cross the road?"
Grace- "Why?"
BethAnne- "You have to guess."
Grace- "It wanted to get run over by a car?"
----

The other day Grace started yelling upstairs while I was feeding the baby lunch.  I called up for her to come downstairs to tell me what was wrong, but she just kept yelling.  So I went up to find out what was wrong.  She was on the toilet in my bathroom and my bathroom was out of the wet wipes she likes to use, so she didn't know what to do.  Exasperated, I told her that "most normal people just use toilet paper to wipe themselves clean".  And in classic, defiant voice, Grace said loudly "MOM!  I AM NOT MOST NORMAL PEOPLE!"  
----

Have a great week!
Love,
Aubrey

Pretty Joy

Here are some recent pictures of Joy. We need to talk to her about not driving and talking on the phone at the same time (1st picture). And in the other pictures, she was so cute eating lunch on my chair today. Such a grown up girl!

Things are good here. We're excited for the Llewellyns to visit next weekend. And we're excited about Jon's Parade home doing so well and we can't wait to see it! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Love,
Aubrey

Spring Break! (3rd time's the charm, I hope)

Dear Family and Friends,

This week we had Spring Break and we spent the first half of it sharing a stomach bug, but then we got better. Mark took off Thursday and Friday so we could have fun as a family, and we were so blessed that Thursday and Friday were the most beautiful days we've seen in forever. It was sunny and a little over 70 degrees. On Thursday we did some cleaning and playing around the house. Then we went to Macaroni Grill for dinner and then we went to a park together. Then on Friday after some yard work and Joy's nap, we went to the zoo. Everyone else in Boise had the same idea, so it took a half hour to find a parking spot. Then we only had about an hour left to explore the zoo, but it wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be and we had just enough time to see all the best animals and take a ride on the carousel. In the last picture, it's hard to see, but BethAnne is sticking her head up in a plastic dome in the prairie dog enclosure and they're looking at each other. Then to finish off the day we went to Primos Pizza Buffet (we had a coupon) and that was lots of fun. We are really glad we could have these fun days as a family and now we're looking forward to a nice, quiet General Conference weekend. I hope you are all doing well. We love you!

Love,
Aubrey