Memorial Day weekend

We had a really great weekend that kind of stretched from Thursday to Tuesday!  It was the weekend that just kept on giving!

On Thursday, Jessica invited Jade and I to the splash pad to celebrate Trey's birthday!  They had a blast together.

Trey being a gentleman and offering Jade a sucker....

But she misses the moment and only cares when he gives up and drops it haha

 I'm sure Jade and my pregnant self will be spending lots of time here this summer cooling off!

Friday night, Ryan invited the boys over for some Nintendo, so Jenni and I took the girls out for some ice cream!

Saturday, I took the day off from the salon and we had a family day!
We went to The Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving point and had sooo much fun!  That place is so cool and could've kept us entertained for hours.  Jade loved it and there was so much stuff to do, I don't think we even saw it all.  Despite the overly crowded Saturday of a holiday weekend, we were glad we went

She loved these tubes with fans at the bottom.  You put in ripped up paper and watch it fly up the tube

 Afterwards, we ate at JCW's and I don't think I have ever seen Jade eat french fries so enthusiastically!   We spent the rest of the night relaxing and catching up on a couple movies.

Speaking of eating enthusiastically...  Jade discovered how to eat corn on the cob for the first time for Sunday dinner:)  Between every bite she would say, "MMMMM!  MM! CORN!"  It was precious.

On Monday Tom worked his butt off all morning!  Thanks babe!  He trimmed, mowed, and stained our fence.  We haven't re-stained it at all in the 6 years we've been here...and it shows!  Unfortunately, we way underestimated how much stain we will need, so the job will continue....  

This is the before...

And this is the after...not the best pic because it's still a work in progress....but definitely much better! So we at least finished with the front yard fence:)

OH just a random picture of our pretty Iris flowers :)


And Monday night we had some friends over for a last minute BBQ and let the kids play!  Jade is pretty lucky to have so many buddies to play with all the time.

It was a nice Memorial Day and a great day to remember those family and friends that have passed on .  And of course, to remember and thank our service men that protect our country and have given the ultimate sacrifice so that we can enjoy our freedoms and have a relaxing day like today.


The Bunkers got a new pool so of course on Tuesday we had to check it out!  Thanks for the invite Britt!  It was a perfect day, the kids were having a blast, Jenni/Brittany/ and I all took dips in the pool, and Brittany even served us icy pina coladas!  It was one of those days where you realize that being a stay at home mom totally rocks!

But of course, there are those other days when you realize you would be probably much less exhausted working the day away at a full-time job haha!  But being a mom is the best and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

OH just wait!  The fun doesn't stop there! Tuesday night after Tom got off work we went out on a date!!  We went to Chili's and did a temple session.  Thanks for the date babe....I know you are so dang exhausted with your job lately, so I really appreciate it and love you so much!

We had a great time and I'm so grateful for this eternal companion of mine.  I know we are kind of in the calm between storms right now, and that our life is going to be turned upside down again in August!  So I'm just savoring and soaking in all the simplicity and joy of just the 3 of us right now.

A couple final random pics (for this post anyways :) ) from sometime the last couple weeks!
Sitting outside in nice weather is probably one of my favorite things and lately has been beautiful!  Tom usually complies and joins us out on the porch in the evenings:)





















And this is Jade napping with her "NEW pink pillow" (as she continues to call it).  Thankfully, she now loves it!!  To most that seems strange to think that that is an accomplishment...but Jade has been known to HATE having anything (pillow, blanket, stuffed animal) in her crib except for her binkies...so the fact that she now likes a pillow is a good baby step to get her ready for her big bed coming shortly!

Mother's Day

Last week Tom busted out some Mario on the Wii and Jade was pretty enthralled haha

Last week, we also finally made it to Kimi and Jon's house to meet little Ella.  We brought them dinner and it was nice to visit with the new parents!  She is so stinkin sweet!  It get me so excited for August!  But also reminds me that I feel like I've forgotten EVERYTHING when it comes to having a newborn!

Mother's Day was great!  After church, we had Kimi & Jon and Michelle & Larry over for the afternoon.  We had dinner and waited for Sadie's call from her mission!  And Michelle took these great pics that I'm stealing:)

Jade was soo cute and hilarious when Sadie called!  Apparently, she thinks Skype is the coolest thing ever!  She was just jabbering away at Sadie:)

Sadie is doing great and is an incredible missionary!  We loved getting to see and talk to her!  I can't believe she will be home in 4 short months!!!

     It was awesome to spend Mother's day with Tom's mom and sister.  We love them so much:)
     Tom got me the crib bedding I've wanted for baby girl, helped clean the house for me, and wrote me the sweetest letter!  And at the end of the day Jade said (unsolicited) "Happy Mother's Day mom!  I love you!"  Even though I'm sure she only said it because Tom had her say it several times throughout the day...it still made my heart melt!  I felt very loved!
     What a great life it is to be a mom!  I'm not great with words to be able to express the depth of my gratitude of being a mother, but all I know, is that my life has become more rich than I ever thought it could be.  It is definitely the hardest and most emotionally challenging life calling there is, but those precious moments and everyday joys of being a mom, far outweigh any hard times.  I wouldn't trade it for the world.
     It also makes me have even more appreciation and love for my amazing mom!  She is seriously so amazing, thoughtful, selfless, loving and caring!  She is the best grandma to our Jade and is one of my best friends!  I love you mom!
     I don't know what I would do without my little Jade:)  She is such a bright light in our lives and I just love hanging out with her everyday!  Jadelyn, I love you more than you could ever understand (well, until you're a mom that is..)  and I thank Heavenly Father for you every day.

She's been insisting on wearing her swimsuits lately....even on the outside of her clothes haha