Swim!

Lily's on swim team this summer. She's loving it. I'm so proud of this girl! On the first day of practice they said, "Jump in and swim across the pool." She swam 25 meters right there, and has been doing it since then.

She looks so little out there in that long lane!

Lily swims freestyle, back stroke, breast stroke, and butterfly. I'm proud of her gumption and determination.

I love this photo! It captures a glimpse of the friendship between Lily and Carter. I love watching them play and get creative together this summer. I love summer!!!!!!

I'm also very proud of my Carter boy. As of yet, swimming is more scary than fun for Carter. But he was so brave in his swim lessons this summer!

Carter was so scared to jump. His teacher, my good friend Nancy, had to count down for him a few times to get him to jump. Look at his face...so scared, but brave!

Another brave jump!

Nancy taught him to roll over to his back for a breath...

...then roll back to his stomach and swim.
Carter's getting more and more comfortable, the more time with spend in the pool.

What do the other kids and I do while one kid is swimming?...play in the heat.

Hazel's first ventures on a ladder occurred during Carter's swim lessons. She was pretty excited about that.

Multiple choice

How did Aaron dislocate his pinky?

a. flipping oatmeal pancakes
b. karate chopping a cinder block
c. taking a spill while mountain biking

Aaron and Jordan returned from their early morning ride a little earlier than I expected. Aaron held up his hand and said, "I need to go." My stomach churned and my adrenaline started pumping when I saw his discombobulated finger. Jordan was so kind to accompany him to the ER, which allowed me to take care of the kiddos. Thanks, Jordy.

Aaron's owies are fixed up, he's a little sore, and he's back to work.

I'm hosting an Arbonne catalog party! I used their products as a teenager and recently discovered it again because my friend is an Arbonne consultant.

A catalog party works like this: instead of meeting up at my house for a party, you can browse the products on line and make a purchase by contacting me. If you aren't familiar with Arbonne products, I can connect you to Dawne, my friend, and she'll introduce you to them.

I've loved the Arbonne products I've used because they're made of botanical ingredients, which are great for our skin, they look and feel fantastic, and they last a long time.

The perk to the catalog party is that there is no tax and a flat rate shipping fee. So, if you're interested, give me a call or email and I'll send your order over to Dawne!

Mother's day

Mother's day was very sweet. Aaron and the kids took good care of me. I love my kiddos immensely. Sometimes it feels like my heart will burst.

I also enjoyed thinking about my sweet mom. My gratitude for her grows more as the years move on. She is wonderful!

I call it an eskimo kiss. He re-dubbed it the ladybug kiss.

Another great treat: my brother and his family are staying with us for a couple of months this summer! We got to have Mother's day together.

This is Kelly's first Mother's day. Her little boy is so cute. We love having him here. He's so easy-going and laid back. He just fits right in with all the kids here.

Warrior Dash!

Aaron and I ran a crazy fun race last weekend. It's a 5k peppered with obstacles that have you climbing over cargo net structures, leaping over fire, and sloshing through a mud pit under barbed wire. We intended to run it together, but didn't have anyone to watch the kiddos. So we staggered our runs and went separately.

Before the mud pit...

...and after.

Wahoo!

The Warrior Dash has a viking theme...hence the viking horns.

The mud pit leaves you utterly covered in mud. To clean off you get sprayed down!

Over the fire.

In the mud.

Dir.ty.

Wahoo!! It was so much fun!

A few things

1. I just signed up for the St. George marathon!! I've been thinking of running a marathon for a while. Now is the time for me to do it! Only 7,400 of those who register will be selected, by lottery, to participate. Cross your fingers for me that I'll be chosen! The race is October 1st. If you want to run with me or come cheer me on, I'd love it!

2. I'm completely excited about something. It's my vacuum and mop! Long story, short: I've had tile woes since I moved here 4 1/2 years ago. Nothing to properly vacuum/sweep and mop my hard floors. Our new house has a lot of tile, and it's textured. So I need something good.

Well, my genius husband found the perfect solution: our shop vac! It's been sitting in our garage all these years and I haven't thought to use it on the tile. He tried it and it works like a dream! It picks everything up! I love that my problem is solved, and didn't have to spend money on it.

As for the mop, I got an industrial mop and bucket. I love them. They make mopping so much easier and pleasant. The mop was inexpensive and the bucket was a bit more, but so worth it!

3. I'm going to make my blog private. I'd love for you to keep looking at my blog, so pretty please leave me a comment with your email address and I'll send you an invite.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!


The kids had fun finding the eggs and baskets left by the Easter bunny. Lily darted through the backyard gathering the eggs. We had to remind her to leave some for Carter and Hazel too!

The eggs were a hit. My kids had fun playing with the empty eggs after they extracted their loot.

Hazel was adorable! I put the basket in her hand and she took off for the eggs. She picked them right up and plopped them inside.

She loves sunglasses. She tries to wear mine but they slip off her face. When she got this pair, she was so happy!

I included this picture simply because I love it. Aaron took it and captured my cute Carter (and his love of trains) well.

Grandma Ford was here for our early Easter celebrations. I'll post pictures of her visit later. We had soooo much fun with her here. I keep telling her she needs to just move down here, but I haven't convinced her yet!

We enjoyed our religious Easter celebrations as well. I love Jesus Christ and am indescribably grateful for his Atonement and resurrection.

In addition to Easter, this Sunday brought a significant change for our family. Our bishopric was released, including Aaron from his position as first counselor. It's been a privilege for our family to serve the Lord in that capacity. It wasn't without challenge, having Aaron away from our family a lot. I'm thankful for the growth it has afforded us. I'm absolutely, 100% ecstatic to think that now we'll be able to drive to church together, sit together in Sacrament meeting, and have Aaron home more on Sundays and weeknights!!! We'll enjoy the reprieve, short as it may be!

Our new bishop is a family friend. We adore him and his wife. I look forward to how our ward will be blessed by their love and dedication. His counselors are great. Their wives (my friends) are babes, I might add. God bless them all!