First ever swimming lessons

Kimberly started swimming lessons this week. She is the cutie in the pink swimming suit with the braids in her hair. This was a pretty brave thing for Kimmy... she is not a water fan. By age 2, she finally realized that baths were fun and she could play around in the water. Up until then though, she would cry during baths and would only stand. It was just in the past year that she started liking showers. The first thing her teacher asked her to do was to dunk her whole body in the water. Kimmy did and then she wasn't too fond of doing that again. But if she told Hailey no on something, Hailey would talk to her nicely and convince her to do what she asked. By the end, Kimmy wasn't telling her no anymore and she loved swimming lessons. The only thing she wasn't fond of was how cold the water was. haha.

Kimberly listening to her swim teacher Hailey.

Matthew watching his sissy swim and enjoying it.

Tell me she doesn't look terrified.
Starting to trust her teach when she says she can float.
Splashing the teacher in the face.

Learning how to kick her legs.

Realizing swim class is pretty fun.
Look at Kimmy's eyes... she is listening to her teacher pretty closely.

Okay now Matthew is not watching Kimmy and is not waiting so patiently. He is bored.
This was near the end of the class and Kimmy was getting braver.

We were so proud of her for even trying and when we headed to the truck, she was telling us how excited she was for the next day and swimming lessons. We are glad she is learning and maybe next year we can throw Matthew in the pool for some lessons. He is a lot braver than Kimberly.

Blessings to all until next post. :-)

Happy 4th of July America

We had a fun 4th of July weekend. We headed to Soda on the 3rd to stay the night and visit with family. We got some fireworks (for my kids age: snakes, sparklers, and snaps) and just played around the first day. Then on the 4th, we went and watched the parade and got a ton of candy. The kids had fun playing at the park with all the activities. Then we went back to my parents house to play in the sandbox and water. It was a nice day and not too hot. Then that afternoon we headed back home to visit with daddy. Brian had to work all weekend so when we got home, we got to do more fireworks until daddy had to run to work. Then the kids stayed up till 10:35 p.m. (late for them) and watched the neighborhood fireworks. They both loved them. Now they can't wait till the 24th to do more fireworks.

Those were pictures of the kids at my parents house doing snappers. Kimmy decided they were too loud so she is covering her ears in the picture.



Not five minutes after we came in from doing fireworks, the clouds opened up and down came the rain and hail. It was insane. In just a couple of minutes, my parents street was flooded and hail was piling up like snow. My parents were a little worried about their new truck they just purchased but the hail was pretty soft and nothing was damaged.

Waiting for the parade to start.Still waiting... Grampie has our sack ready to fill with candy.Waving to Randy in the parade.

Loud fire trucks make for not so happy kids.Kimmy was having fun beating Kelsey and Rae Ann for candy. hahaMatthew was not too fond of the loud noises so he wanted Grammie for most of the parade.A break in the parade let me take a picture of Kimmy.I tried to sneak a picture of Matthew and me but this was the best I could do.

Grammie and Grampie trying to get Matthew to like the parade.

The crowd of people enjoying the parade.

Grampie and Matthew enjoying the end of the parade.

Playing in the sprinklers.

Matthew was having fun getting wet... just as much as Kimberly.

Matthew loves the sand.

Happy 4th of July America!

Bee sting

In less than a week, Matthew and I got stung by wasps. Mine was in the backyard while walking around. I guess I about stepped on the little bugger so he zapped me to pay me back. My foot was pretty swollen and itchy for a week. Matthew's happened in the front yard by the front door. He was trying to come in the house (it takes him a bit to open the door) and while he was there, a wasp zapped him on the knuckle. He screamed so loud. At first I thought he might have got his fingers in the door but Brian ran over and saw the wasp on the ground and knew that is what had happened. Here is a picture of Matthew's little hands:As you can see, his left hand is swollen. He didn't cry long and the swelling hasn't bothered him. But when you mention his hand, he goes to the front door and points where it happened and yells BAD BEE. haha.

Happy 7th Anniversary!

Happy 7 years for Brian and me today. 8 years ago we met on a blind date and went 4 wheeling. It was a great date and we were together ever since. Since 6/29/2002 landed on a Saturday, we figured it was right to get married exactly 1 year after we had our first date. The day was hot and pretty. We were married up at Sherwood Hills under a gazebo in the bright sun. The day was perfect. It was so nice to have all our friends and family their with us.

During our wonderful 7 years of marriage we bought a house, produced 2 beautiful children, were sealed for all eternity in the Logan Temple, and got a new dog. We have had 7 great years with many more to come.

Pictures from Temple Open House

Our latest creation

Here is what we were up to:

Brian built the kids a sandbox. It is a nice size for the kids to play in. I helped load some sand but not a lot. I was away to a meeting when he did all this so I came home in time to do a couple loads. The kids were loving it.

Aren't they sweet? They were sure cheesing it up so I had to snap a closeup.

They don't care if they get dirty... can you tell!

My silly kids. They were making silly faces.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the great dads of the world. I wanted to wish my wonderful husband a happy father's day. Brian is an amazing dad. He is a hands on dad and loves to help in every way. One of my favorite things that he helps with is the kids bath time. He takes the kids in and gets their baths done while I get my own time. It is a great help. Plus the kids love to splash daddy. But no seriously, I am so lucky to have Brian and the kids have him as a daddy. He is a great dad and a kid at heart. You can truely see that both kids love their dad. I love him too!

I also want to wish my dad a happy father's day. We couldn't be together on the big day but we did visit with him the day before and had a lot of fun. Dad, you are a great father and a fun Grampie. I know growing up we had our moments but I sure do enjoy and appreciate everything you have done being my dad. My children love Grampie and I am glad you are around to enjoy them.

Not to be left out, happy father's day to my father-in-law. Verl, you are a great dad. You have raise a wonderful group of children and now are spoiling the many grandchildren. Just think, at the end of the year you get to call yourself Great Grandpa. haha. No really you are a great father-in-law. Thank you for all your spiritual guidance and support. Just don't stress too hard Bishop... :-)

Happy Father's Day to all the men in my life that are dads. It is fun to see all my cousins become dads. How we have grown.

Blessings to all until next post.

The start of summer

Well it is the middle of June and it doesn't even feel like summer. We have had 12 days out of 13 that were rain. And we aren't talking a little drizzle. We are talking downpour rain. I think we haven't had to turn our sprinklers on at all this month. Granted we like free water for our lawn and garden but we haven't got to play outside and enjoy the warm summer months. So needless to say, we are ready for summer. We had a day without rain yesterday and boy we were outside most of the day just enjoying the sun.

In the meantime, we have got to do a couple fun things. With our older kids (no babies right now), we are able to go play in the mountains and 4 wheel and just enjoy. So that is what we did one day. We have tried since but the weather hasn't cooperated. I am just not into cleaning mud off two kids. Here are some pictures:

Isn't my hubby so handsome!

Matthew had fun being a monkey and climbing the ramps.

My hubby's favorite activity.

These sweeties are just too cute.

Kimberly and her battery powered 4 wheeler. She is such a daredevil on it. Funny because when she got it on her 3rd birthday, she hated it. It scared her. She would not ride it for 1 year. Finally on her 4th birthday, she dared to ride and found she loved it. Now that she is 5, she isn't scared of it at all.

I just loved this picture. Matthew smiling and Kimmy zooming around on her 4 wheeler. Matthew did get on it with his sissy and had fun.

This picture makes me laugh. I was trying to get a cute new picture of Duke and here I caught him licking his lips. But the picture caught him with what looks like his tongue in his nose.

Brian was starting a little fire for us to cook some hotdogs. This picture looks like Matthew is telling daddy how to do it.

This picture is so sweet. Shows you how much Matthew loves his daddy. He was so tired.

Kimmy and I were off for a ride. Just a little one up and down the road. The only problem we had was Duke followed us wherever we went.

I love this picture. Now before anyone start spouting off about not wearing helmets, we do wear our helmets when we ride. This was just a little ride around where we were parked. We are very big on wearing our helmets, especially the kids.

Hopefully we will get more days like this one. We are trying to plan one with the Peterson clan before some of them head off to California. All I know is we need more sun and warm weather. The kids are ready for some fun in the sun.

Blessings to all until next post. :-)

Matthew's 2nd Birthday

On May 30th, we celebrated Matthew's 2nd birthday. I can't believe two years has already past. Where does the time go? Matthew was born on May 30, 2007 at 9:09 a.m. He was a hard baby to carry. I carried him all in front and that was rough on my body. I was having contractions pretty much the entire month of May and my dr told me to stay close the home the entire month. He was sure I was going to come early with him. But nope... Matthew stayed in my tummy until the day we decided he should be born. He wasn't due until June 6th but I really wanted him to come in May. Since I was having to schedule a c-section, I asked my dr about May 31st. He said that wouldn't work for him but May 30th would. Fine by me. I wanted him in May because we have a lot of June birthdays in the family. So we went into the hospital around 7:30 and had Matthew at 9:09. The nurses and drs said he was so huge and he was. He weighed in at 8 lbs 14 oz. He was such a little chunk. So cute though. He gave us some struggles at first with choking and jaundice but he has turned out to be a healthy boy. So proud to have a little Brian running around the house.

This is Matthew's official number 2 birthday picture.

This was his way of showing 2 fingers. Not as easy as one finger.

Matthew wasn't sure of us singing to him. So he was making really weird faces to us.

Matthew loves blowing out fire (candles on the table, etc) so we gave him more than just his number 2 candle to blow out. He had a ball (see below):

We had a fun day celebrating his birthday. Grammie and Grampie made it home for it and the kids loved having them visit. Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and they are sweet as ever. Our sweet neighbors Clare and Marian came over with a present and Aunt Barbara and family dropped off a gift. Matthew got spoiled as did Kimberly. For some reason people seem to think that if one gets a present, the other needs one too.

Oh the joys of our little ones. They truely do put smiles on our faces.

Blessings to all until next post.

What we have been doing...

Man it has been awhile since I blogged. I have been so busy and it has just been crazy for us. Here is basically what has been going on:

On May 14th, my grandmother (Mere-Mere) returned to her Heavenly Father. It was a blessing because of the pain and condition she was in. It is still hard and sad to think of her not with us on this Earth but we know she is in a much better place right now. We made it down for the funeral and then the kids and I stayed a bit longer to see what we could help my mom with in Texas. There was a lot to do down there and now I am paying for it. My back and muscles hurt and need a couple days of rest to heal.

Brian wasn't working much this month and we started to worry what we were going to do. Now it seems work has picked up so we should be okay. Otherwise my hubby is determined to get a part-time job somewhere to help pay bills. He doesn't want me to work and that is a nice thing. There are just so many more benefits to me staying home.

The kids have had a nice time in Texas. They got to play with all their second cousins and got to meet all the family. Of course everyone adored them. But Kimberly took advantage of us not being in our home and tried to push my buttons. Kids will be kids. Matthew is talking so much more and it is a joy to listen to him. Even Brian was getting a kick out of him speaking when we got back home from Texas.

Our puppy Duke turned 1 while I was in Texas and daddy took him for a good run on his birthday. He is still a cute puppy and I do love him.

Matthew's 2nd birthday is coming up this Saturday and we are pretty excited for him. I will have to blog with some pictures afterwards to share.

Blessings to all until next post.

Happy Mother's Day

I know this post is a day late but my Mother's Day was insane. First off I have to tell my mother happy mother's day. Unfortunately my mother was in Texas so I didn't get to give her a big hug and kiss from me. But I did call her that morning to wish her a happy mother's day. Of course I had to find her the perfect present that would send tears to her eyes (and it did). Second I have to wish my mother-in-law a happy mother's day. She is an amazing woman and I am so glad to be in her family. She is a great mother and a great mother-in-law. Some people do not get along with their in-laws but mine are great. Next I want to wish all the mothers among my family and friends a happy mother's day. You are all wonderful women.
I had a great mother's day. My children gave me big hugs and my hubby was sweet as always. He fixed us a yummy breakfast. Primary was great and church was wonderful. The Primary did so good singing in church (even though I had to go up there too) and we got a wonderful present from the ward. Then we went to my in-laws to wish my mother-in-law a happy mother's day and have dinner. Got to visit with family and just enjoy the day. Too bad we can't have a mother's day like once a month. haha

Blessings to all
:-)

Thunderstorms

Our first big thunderstorm of the year for the kids happened in Texas. Something new for them and for my hubby... Texas thunderstorm. The alarms were sounding on the tv about severe and you couldn't take you eyes and ears off of it. Then my hubby got the talk from my mother about how you don't take a shower during one of these, you don't talk on the phone, you prepare yourself for a tornado. Even my grandmother asked my hubby if we were going to have to get into the closets. The quick moving storm hit and yes there was lightning everywhere and thunder that rattled the house. The kids were a little scared but it came and went pretty fast. The rain it dropped was amazing. It was pretty cool to see puddles on my grandmother's lawn after that little bit of time.

Then we come home and just the other night we got a great thunderstorm. The lightning was everywhere and the thunder rumbled the house. We got a ton of rain. The kids weren't as scared at this storm (they are getting used to them now) but the look on Matthew's face was priceless. I wish I would have taken a picture. He was in daddy's arms and his eyes were so wide. His mouth was wide open and he was happy. Kimberly was actually brave enough to leave daddy's arms and watched the storm out the window. I used to be terrified of these storms and would have to hide my eyes and be in Brian's arms. Ever since I had kids, I have realized that I need to be strong and brave so my kids will be too. So now I brave the storms and laugh and enjoy them. Inside I still tremble but I know my kids are liking them and that is all that counts.

Thanks mom for teaching me that trade. I still remember those trailer days that we would watch the lightning storms.

Blessings to all.