Happy Happy Father's Day!!!!

Aaron is a great "hand's on" dad to our kids. Dad is DEFINITELY more fun than Mommy and I sure appreciate the help with baths, feeding, clean-up, diapers, etc. Our kids are very lucky to have such a great dad and I am very lucky to have such a great husband. Here are a few pictures from the last (almost) 4 years since becoming a Dad:

The day Kaya was born. Kaya and Daddy ready for a luau.Aaron showing Kaya the cows at the Utah State Fair.

Aaron & KayaThe day Logan was born.Aaron & LoganDaddy & Kaya coloring Easter Eggs.Aaron & Kids

Aaron & Kids

Happy Father's Day Daddy!! We ALL love you!!

The View From My Kitchen Window

I LOVE my backyard. It is so nice to have grass, a playground, and a safe place for my children to play. The kids look forward to when Daddy comes home since he likes to go outside with them to play in the sandbox or push them on the swings. We have several windows all along the back of the house so that you can pretty much see the yard/playground out of any window. However, I took a picture of what I see out the kitchen window when I'm doing dishes or cooking dinner. It's not the best quality picture and you can't even see both the kids, but it makes me happy to look out and see the 3 of them spending time together. The TV is off and the house is quiet. Best of all - I get to cook dinner without 2 kids underfoot. It's nice with Aaron's current schedule to have him home in the late afternoon.Bonus picture: I wanted to take a current picture of the kids together to mail in a card to my grandma. (There are still people out there who don't do email or blog!) Here's a current picture of the kids together.

P.S. My garden is growing!!!!!! So far everything planted has started to sprout except for the tomatoes. Now we just have to keep tending the garden so that edible vegetables are a result. I'm just excited that the seeds worked. (That sounds pretty lame, but I was worried that nothing would grow.) Give it a few more days and I'll post a picture!

32 Weeks and Counting Down

I had my 32 week check up today for baby #3 (Still no name at this point.). Everything looks good and I measured about a week ahead again. My results from the blood sugar test came back good. In fact, my blood sugar level was a little low. How that can be possible with all the chocolate I've eaten this pregnancy....I don't know?? Chocolate has been my craving of choice this time around, whether it's a snickers bar or a hot fudge sundae from McDonald's. It's been chocolate. (I've heard that's a sign of having a girl) The only thing I won't eat - much to the dismay of my husband and children is chocolate in my pancakes. I just don't think chocolate belongs in pancakes. I'll make 'em but just won't eat 'em. Sorry, honey!! So in case any of you were wondering what it looks like to be 32 weeks pregnant with baby #3 here I am. (Don't Laugh - It takes a lot of courage to share pregnancy pictures!!)

For the sake of comparison (and posterity) here is a picture of me with Baby#2 AKA Logan at about 38 weeks. (The earlier pictures I could find weren't very good belly shots)

The post wouldn't be complete without a picture of Baby#1 AKA Kaya at about 31 weeks along.

So I feel HUGE and some days think that 8 more weeks will NEVER come - but from personal experience, I know that the babies DO come out and we're not pregnant forever. It sure seems like it some days though!! I LOVE being pregnant and no, the heat of the summer doesn't bother me.

What kind of flower are you?

I am a Violet What Flower Are You?

"You have a shy personality. You tend to hesitate before trying new things or meeting new people. But once people get to know you, you open up and show the world what you are really all about."

We LOVE Banana Bread!!!

I have found a new favorite banana bread recipe. Long story short - My mom's visiting teacher brought her a loaf of banana bread and told her that it was one of Martha Stewart's recipes. My Mom loved it and told me about it. I looked the recipe up and tried it today. It is SO yummy and way easy to make.

Note: I used my Pampered Chef mini loaf pan and the recipe made 3 mini loaves. I only had to cook them for about 40 minutes. Enjoy!! http://www.marthastewart.com/banana-bread

Do you want to win a FREE Moby Wrap?

I saw this product on a friend's blog and I'm interested in trying something like this now that I'm going from 2 to 3 kids. I have never used a wrap before, but I like the idea of keeping my hands free for the 2 older kids. Check out the website on how to enter to win a free Moby Wrap of your own: http://bab-i-licious.blogspot.com/

Random Pictures - Update

We FINALLY got our garden planted this past weekend!! We planted corn, peas, green beans, zucchini, butternut squash, cucumbers, green onions, tomatoes, pumpkins, watermelons, and carrots. We also got some raspberry starts from a friend in the neighborhood to grow some raspberry bushes too. It was a lot of work and Kaya really enjoyed putting the seeds in the rows. We should see the first signs of growth in about 8-10 days. I'm excited and hope our garden actually grows. We planted 4 fruit trees this year too. Apple, Pear, Peach, & Apricot. I don't think we'll see any edible fruit for a few years but we LOVE fresh fruit and vegetables and I'm excited to have it growing in our backyard!!

This past Saturday, Aaron got to go play in the desert with fellow geocachers. They went on a 70+ mile ATV ride through the west desert to find caches and have a good time. Aaron borrowed an ATV from a co-worker so that he could participate. They saw 2 rattlesnakes, lots of other desert animals and had a fun time. Aaron is still saving his money to buy himself a big boy toy!!

On Friday, May 30th, our Church Primary group had a bike safety activity. About 60 kids got together to learn about bike safety and to take a group ride. The big kids rode around the neighborhood and the little kids rode around the church parking lot. Kaya and Logan rode their scooters. They had a lot of fun riding around with the other kids.

The above picture is of Kaya and her friend, Belle. Belle is actually about 6 months younger than Kaya but she's 1/2 Polynesian. Belle is one of Kaya's favorite friends to play with. Kaya likes to go to Belle's house and play dress up with all her fun dress up clothes.

The video below is of Logan riding his scooter home. He is almost 22 months old and has mastered the scooter. We had to go out and buy Logan his own scooter because the kids would fight over Kaya's ALL THE TIME!! I wanted to wait until his birthday in August - but I couldn't take the screaming and fighting anymore. It's pretty funny to watch him ride. He's better than Kaya on the thing!

After the bike activity, Kaya's friend from across the street came over to play. Her name is Hailey and she is about 2 months younger than Kaya. They also go to church with us. They have a good time playing house and dress up.

Kaya's good friend Whitney recently moved to the other side of the foothills to a town called Saratoga Springs. (About a 20 minute drive) Kaya has been asking about her friend every day for the past 2 weeks since we told her they moved. We get to go visit with them next week. Whitney's Mom told me today that Whitney has been collecting rocks from their backyard to "show Kaya". We miss them already!!

One of my favorite parts of living in Utah is the awesome thunder & lightning storms that roll through during the summer. The picture below was taken at about 10:30 in the morning just shortly before the storm rolled over us. We had thunder that shook the house during this storm. I LOVE it!! We have been trying to teach the kids to enjoy it too and not be afraid. Logan LOVES to swing. I had to drag him in before the rain started. Look at the awesome clouds in the background!!

Heather had a busy Memorial Day weekend at work. Over the course of 2 weeks they received a total of 4500 Chrysanthemum plants. Finding room in the grocery store, keeping them watered, and cleaned up was a HUGE task. Very overwhelming!! Memorial Day is a big holiday here in Utah with people buying flowers for family members buried here.Aaron's mom came up for the weekend to attend a funeral. On Memorial Day Monday, we had the opportunity to attend a memorial service in West Jordan for veterans. Governor Jon Hunstman was there along with Senator Orrin Hatch. They had a Blackhawk helicopter on display. The service included a 21 gun salute, bagpipes, and a Blackhawk Helicopter fly-by. It was a VERY wet and rainy day but we were touched as people paid tribute to all the veterans that have died for our country's freedom.