Old friends

These 3 cuties were babies when we all lived in Delaware. Heavah has since lived in Dubai and now Nepal, Lexie is in Utah, and Curren has lived in Arizona, Texas, and now Utah since we lived in DE.

Thank you

A BIG thank you to Papa for all his help with the demo of our landscaping! The guys worked so hard, even in the rain to remove all the overgrown mess that was our yard. We are so glad you came to help us. Ryan, Mindy's ran the track hoe and we can't thank him enough for helping us twice! He and Mindy are so unselfish. We just love them. Thank you, thank you. (Thanks also to Uncle Matt for all of his hard work, too!)

Father's Day

This year for Father's Day, Curren and Emily wanted to choose their own gifts for James. Emily gave him a Snuggie (the blanket with arms) and Curren gave him a Nerf gun so they could play together. We made Daddy breakfast in bed. Yummy French toast casserole, fresh berries, and juice. Then he wore the handprint tie the kids made for him in primary a couple of years ago. We had fun showing the father in our home how much we love him.

Potty trained

Thomas underwear and a fish tank were all the motivation Hunter needed to be potty trained. This guy is FULLY potty trained...day and night in his big boy underwear. No more diapers for him. We couldn't be more proud.

No more bushes!

While Papa was here, they rented this big thing to pull our all the overgrown shrubery on our lot! The boys were in heaven!! They took turns riding with James, Papa, and Ryan. Ryan was the master with that tractor. He and Mindy have spent two whole Saturdays helping us tear everything out. They are so sweet to help us so much. We love them!! Now all those awful fisters are gone, the fence is gone, and we have to deal with roots and grading next. Followed by a new sprinkler system and then grass!

Curren's flat friend

Curren has a good primary teacher. She is already preparing for their class presentation in July! She had the children create a flat friend (like Flat Stanley) and gave each one a theme. They were to take pictures of their friend to go with this theme. So, we put Porter down for a nap while James and Papa worked in the yard and we took Nana to Temple Square and took some pictures with Curren's flat friend.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

How lucky are we to live in a place where we drive by several temples in minutes?! Hunter loves to point them out as we drive down I-15. While Papa and Nana Ellsworth were here we met up with Matt, Mikel, Myles, Falene and Jearl to tour the newest temple in Utah. It's gorgeous.

Tennis

For the past couple of weeks, Curren has been taking a tennis class at the sports center near our house. He had a great instructor, Claire, who will be a senior next year and plays for her high school's tennis team. She was great with the kids. Curren loved the games they played to learn tennis skills. He got better every day. Now you can find him walking around the house with his raquet bouncing a ball. He learned how to keep score, and hit the ball using various strokes.

Eighteen months

This is Porter. He can go to nursery now. He says lots of words. He loves climbing up on things and eating. I love him. A lot.

Draper temple celebration for youth

A couple of weeks ago my friend, Sarah and I had the opportunity to attend the big celebration at the Conference Center. We both work with the Young Women in our ward so we were excited to get last minute tickets to see the performance. There was such an amazing energy in that enormous auditorium! Then, when President Monson walked in the youth began to sing, "We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet". Then everyone joined in and the spirit was so strong. It was so neat to be in the same room as the prophet. It was a very spiritually uplifting night.

Fun mom

The other day Emily's friend came over to see if she could play. I had Porter on my hip when I opened the door and called for Emily. Then I saw Kristen on her motorcycle! I had to run in and grab my camera. Too bad for us, they are moving to Alpine this weekend. : (

Last day of school

Curren and Emily finished school last week. What a busy time of year this is! There was field day, Emily's class picnic, a field trip to the Hogle Zoo, first grade fun day,... Mrs. Mathis was so good to Curren and Mrs. Stepan was a great kindergarten teacher for Emily. I am so grateful to these women for teaching my children. When I taught school, the last day of school always made me sad. I would cry when it was time to say good-bye at the end of the day. When I picked up Curren I saw that all the teachers in the halls were teary.
So, that chapter ends and summer begins...