Softball Anyone?

Since Caden and Jace both play soccer, I thought for sure that Jackson would want to play soccer as well. Nope! He was adamant about playing t-ball. Maybe it was because we watch his dad play softball. That was the sport he picked. He was so excited about it! It has been so cute to watch him concentrate so hard on hitting the ball. And then to watch him run around the bases! His coaches were so cute with him! We get to go every Tuesday and Thursday morning. So fun!



Then there's Marks Softball games every week. They are in the tournament now. Their team is pretty good, we all have fun watching and cheering them on!

Preg-Nut!

Look how cute Allison is!! She's like 20 months preggo and so stinkin' cute! We met in the MTC, served our missions together - we were never companions, but we went on splits all the time. We lived in Salt Lake City (with Angie and Anna) after our missions. I just LOVE her! This is her first baby and I am SOOOO excited and happy for her. Her cute hubby is awesome! He is serving in Iraq as you read this...What a stud!


I have never lived this close to BYU before, so Al thought it was important that I experience the BYU Creamery. Here we are in the ice cream isle!

Schools Out - Don't Forget The Shaving Cream!

It's Summer Time!!!! Friday was the kids last day of school. They went from 8:45 to 10:15...long day, I know! At noon we had a huge party in the park behind our house complete with water slide! Each person brought a can of shaving cream and everyone went crazy!!! The kids had a blast, we all did! Even the moms got involved! (although some were more readily involved than others!) It was so fun!

We love the Walls!

So there's this family back in Texas. They're pretty cool... Gary & Karen, and their girls (& significant others): Jennifer & Justin and Lauren & Matt. Mark worked with Gary and that's how we got to know them. Being so far away from family, they quickly became family to us. My kids love them so much, we all do! We painted together (our media room and their spare bedroom), vacationed together (Playa del Carmen and fishing at the lake house), made home improvements together (bead board under our kitchen counter and staining their deck), ate at Chili's (a lot!!) and just spent time together. Karen (the quilter extraordinaire) even attempted to teach me how to quilt! They spent birthdays with us and holidays too. And brought the most thoughtful and fun gifts. They are the best! They even had the best crushed ice at their house! My kids were able to enjoy their pets - Scout, Diesel and Max (because we'll for sure never own a cat and probably never own a dog!!) We were supposed to stay with them the last night that we were in Texas. That didn't work out quite the way it was supposed to, so they drove the hour out to our house to spend our last evening. They became very close friends in a very short amount of time. I hope they realize how special they really are to us.

We miss them so much and hope to be able to spend time with them again in the near future! We love you guys!! You need to move to Utah!! You'll LOVE it here!! Okay, maybe that is a little extreme...but at least come visit! We miss you! Jennifer and Lauren, I'm talking to you too!!!

Rainie is my FAVORITE!!!

So there's this family, back in Texas. They're pretty cool. Rainie and her cute family moved into our ward a week or two after we did. They are HUGE BYU fans, so of course we got along great. She brought me treats for my birthday, held awesome scrapbook parties at her house, planned BYU Football parties at my house, saw many fun girl's night out movies with me and has the best laugh! Her and Chris brought yummy Taco Cabana over after Kids Night Out, taught us how to play Settlers!!! Experienced Truluck's Chocolate Sac (a scrumptious chocolate treat) with us. No one can forget our BYU Tulsa trip in a rented white 15 passenger van! (There is an entry somewhere about that!) That was the funnest! They held a going away party for us and taught us how fun Easter Egg Cracking Contests were! Jackson was our champion! Rainie always made me laugh! I do miss her and I'm so glad she is back to blogging! I seriously thought she fell off the blogging face of the earth. She is the reason I am even here! Her cute blog inspired me! So, thank you Rainie for being such a great friend and making our life in Texas that much more enjoyable! You are always my favorite!!!

Thank You, Petrina!!!

So there's this family back in Texas. They're pretty cool. I remember meeting Petrina on our first day in the ward in Texas. (Mark and I went ward shopping before we bought our house out there). She drilled me about where I grew up and told me how I looked so familiar. We didn't know each other, but I'll certainly never forget that conversation. She even e-mailed me a couple of times to see if we'd bought a house yet, and how the move was going. We were both pretty excited that we ended up buying a house in that ward, our kids were going to go to school together. I was lucky enough to be able to serve with Trina in the scouting program in our ward. But, even if we hadn't served together, I know we would have become great friends.

Our kids played together often, (Jackson idolized her boys) and whenever our hubbys were away on trips or working late, we would meet for crazy dinner dates with six rambunctious boys! I have to say, Jason's Deli became a favorite! Planing birthday parties, Amazing Race Parties, BYU games, Superbowl Parties...just having family dinner's together. I truly miss having fun and spending time with her and her family.

She is the type of person you can always count on, a true friend. When I was getting ready for the move, she was really busy and couldn't actually help me pack, but she did more for me than anyone else. She took my kids so that I could get things done, she picked them up from school. She made time in her (VERY) busy life to help me out. I had several friends come and help me pack a little here and a little there, but to Petrina I am most grateful.

Mark had come home that last week to help with last minute things and to drive with us back to Utah. The plan was to finish everything up on Thursday, have the truck completely loaded. Friday we were sending the kids for their last day of school and doing last minute clean up. When the kids got home on Friday we were taking off. It SO didn't work out that way. We got most of the stuff loaded into the truck on Thursday night. We planned on getting a hotel that night since our bedding was in the back of a truck, but Petrina wouldn't hear of it. She insisted that we stay at her house that night, she had plenty of room. We had several from the Elders Quorum come and help. But we have so much stuff that we still had lots of little things to load when we finally sent everyone home. So that meant on Friday instead of cleaning, Mark and I were still loading the truck. To make matters worse, they were supposed to come and pick up the truck at noon but they didn't show up until about 7:30 pm. Ugh!

Long story short, we didn't end up leaving until Saturday around noon. Petrina kept our kids Wednesday night, Thursday night, I picked them up from their last day of school on Friday and took them to Petrina's house again. So to my kids, it was just a great big party! They had a blast those last few days in Texas. They still talk about the big party at Petrina's. She insisted once again that we stay at her house on Friday night...and the by the way, the bed in her spare bedroom is SOOOO comfortable!!! I would stay with her ANYTIME! Then her family sent us off on Saturday with goody bags for each of the kids and treats for Mark and I. She was an angel and truly heaven sent! I know we wouldn't have gotten out of there til Monday if she hadn't helped the way she did. So THANK YOU, my dear friend!

Party at Petrina's!

Saturday Morning - Driving Day.

I cried (like a little girl) as we drove away!

She called yesterday and I got to chat with her for a few minutes. I miss her, but she is going to be here for a month this summer. I can't wait! Part of the reason she called though, was to check if I had arranged to get the boys spring school pictures from the school. Of course with everything else going on, I forgot, so she is ONCE AGAIN taking care of things. She is amazing! I hope every one has a friend like that. It makes life so much easier!!

At The Park

I love our circle! There are so many boys that are Jace's age and they have so much fun together! I car pool with 4 other moms. It works out so great because every day Jace has a play date at one of his friends houses. On our day we went to the park. Here are a few pictures....