in love and war

You'd think these two are just the best of friends!  

Right?

Well, they are, but they have a love/hate relationship.

 They love each other and play hard, but they also bug each other like crazy and fight hard.

When they get along, help each other, and giggle nonstop...it is the cutest thing in the world.  But when they purposely try to annoy one another, hurt the other (mainly Kam rough housing too hard) or just quarrel like siblings do, it is the worst.

Kambrie loves to yell at Tanner.  It cracked me up the other day, we got in the car to run some errands and Kam immediately yells at the top of her lungs "STOOOOOP IT TANNER."

The funny thing is, he wasn't even in the car!!

HELLO!

And today they were both lying on the bed watching a movie, minding their own business, and she screamed, STOP IT!!  

But Tanner wasn't even touching her.

If I make it through these years it will be a miracle.  

The little stinkers.

2nd grade

he wakes up with awful bed head when he takes a shower at night...going to sleep with 

wet hair= disaster.  

we should have planned better.  oh well.  it's character ;)

This little stud muffin is starting 2nd grade.

We're really anxious, nervous and excited for Tanner to start a new year.  He had a blast in Kindergarten, but 1st grade was quite a challenge.  He didn't like doing homework.  Everyday was a struggle and fight getting him to practice reading or putting any effort into learning. 

I understand!  It's hard to learn new things, it's overwhelming and stressful.  It takes a lot of work and practice to get good at something and he didn't want to practice so he hasn't become good at it yet. Actually he is GOOD, just got great or totally up to par where he should be.  I know it isn't fun...but we tried our best to make it fun and a positive learning experience for him.  But holy cow, he sure frustrated us!!  It sure tried my patience trying to figure out how to best help him while putting up with his whining and bad attitude.

We are hoping things will catch on easier for him this year.  Tanner is very smart!  I know he can excel if he puts forth the effort. Here's to hoping and praying that second grade is a success!!

 

Tanner is such a sweet heart.  He is so genuine, caring and has a great heart.  He's won the CARING award at school before and I consider that one of the best awards you can earn!

I know he'll appreciate his teacher, have fun with his classmates and friends, and have a great year.

 

Tanner we love you!!

We're so proud of you.

Mrs P's class.

PRE preschool

If that is not the cutest picture ever, I don't know what is!

(proud mama speaking)

I can't believe Summer break is already over. I haven't even caught up with all the fun we've had.

School is back in session. It started last Thursday, August 16th.

Kambrie was sooooooo excited to start. Last year she was ready when she was ONE! lol. She would watch Tanner climb the bus steps from her window and cry. This year she is ready and wanting to ride the bus again, but I have to tell her she's "too little" and she complies, repeating herself "I too little!" It's adorable. I tell her when she's about 5 she can ride the bus. 

So she'll exclaim, "mommy I five!"

Kids have to turn 3 by the end of August to start preschool and she doesn't turn 3 until the end of September. She barely missed the cut off. But luckily I know the teachers from when Tanner attended school, there was space enough, and they agreed they would take her this year!
Kambrie is thrilled and beyond ready for participation in preschool!

She loves taking a "pak pack" and painting, singing, and interacting with friends. She's going to have a great year. It's fun for everyone!!

I get to have a little downtime while she is gone T and Thurs mornings from 8:30-11:30.  Lucky me.  Hmmmmm, what could I possibly do with that time ;)

love it.  lil diva

Oh I love that face. Love that girl. 

 LOVE LOVE LOVE her!

FYI Kambrie when you look back on this pictures and say 

"Mom what did you dress me in, and what did you do to my hair?" 

let me just tell ya, you are a stylin' babe!!

Your ruffle shirt is popular and adorable.  Ruffles are everywhere.

Your skinny jeans are all the rage.

Your braid is how everyone does their hair.  Braids are popular in the front, back, side and all around!!  And flowers and rosettes are cute accessories for the hair.

So don't you worry.  Momma loves dressing up her little doll.  

You are TOO CUTE!

Sweet 3

Kambrie is almost sweet 3. Not sweet 16, but sweet 3, and she just got her first JEEP!

I was at a garage sale and found a steal of a deal. 

(not as much so after we had to purchase a $70 battery.  whatev).

I've been wanting one of these for the kids forever.  They are so dang fun!  What's not to love about a cute little coup for the kids.

The past two days they have had a blast driving around our completely dead from the horrible death sentence of heat this summer yard.  We have plenty of space and they love the hills.  Their nonstop giggles are SO DANG CUTE.  I love just sittin' on the porch watching them have at it. 
So so so cute.

I don't want to ever forget their huge smiles and loud laughter of simple joy!

bucket filler

You know those random emails, an unforeseen thank you card, or just a simple kind word sent your way...those are often too far and few inbetween when you receive a special uplifting surprise like that.  But I have had some on occasion and they surely do make ya feel good!

I wanted to remember this one because not only did it warm my heart on a personal level, but as a parent.  Nothing is a better gift than hearing something wonderful about your child.  So I decided to save this one, not to gloat or embellish, but simply to reflect on and remember how grateful I was to hear those kind words today, to remember to do good in the world, to remember to keep teaching my child the best I know how, and to remember to try harder to share the things in my own heart with others more, such as she did.

Hey there! I never really get to talk to you at church, we are all so busy with our callings, etc. I wanted to tell you that the past two Sundays I have taught the CTR class and yesterday I had Tanner and he is so awesome! You can really tell that he learns from you as parents and he is so well behaved. He really touched my heart because he and Brother Lawhead's son had their arms around each other the whole hour because "they were buddies".lol It was so cute. Also you all are very missed when you can't be at our ward. This may sound weird but I really look up to you and your family for inspiration. What you have with your family is what I want for my family and I still have your Christmas picture of you and your family on my fridge and when I look at it, it reminds me to be patient and that God will bless me with that someday, maybe not on this earth, but someday. Thanks to you both for your support for my husband and I since we joined the church. Just you leading by example makes all the difference and it makes us want to have a happy life with the love of our Heavenly Father, no matter our trials in life. Now I'm rambling on. lol Anyway, just thank you for being you!:)

the hubs

I am so in love with this man, I can't even stand it. 

He is my "knight in shining armor,"

 my "dream come true," 

my "soul mate."  

All those cliche titles can be so cheesy.  But I don't know how else to say it, he is 

my much better half, my one true love!

He makes me laugh...so hard!  He is freakin HOT.  He is so genuine, sensitive, and caring.  I realize the effort he puts into our relationship and making our family happy.

He gives 110% in everything he does.

He's so patient and forgiving.

He is just hands down, one of the most amazing people I have ever met on this planet, and there are so many days I wonder how I got so lucky that I get to be with him FOREVER!!

Back in April we celebrated his 35th birthday!

I was so stinkin proud of myself,
because I actually pulled off a surprise party for him!

I had some friends gather at the church and then I had to come up with some sly, random idea, why we just HAD to go over to an empty church building at the VERY moment I requested...not obvious at all, right?

Well I am SMOOTH!  I pulled it off.

I got him to stop filling up our crater in the back yard with new dirt, and come help me at that very second because I remembered that the church door was still unlocked from a previous meeting I had been at earlier that day.  Some of that was actually half true.

And what a loyal rock star husband he was.  To stop in the middle of his yard work, inconveniently, to go check the church door :)

We got him to the church unsuspecting of anything, 

and he was in fact, legitimately

SURPRISED!!

It was super awesome.

The other funny part we threw in there was that Tanner requested to go play bball in the gym.  Tanner NEVER requests to play any kind of sport or be active.  Landon is frequently begging Tanner and he refuses.  So when the idea was presented that Tanner wanted to go play, Landon was all over that!  Tanner was super cute being in on the surprise too...he played it off well!

We had an ice cream bar, homemade German Chocolate cake, and then I grabbed some scrapbook pages to show off what a stud Landon was in his younger years too!  Everyone got a kick out of seeing the blast from the past stuff.

Then the kids just ran around and played like kids do while the adults talked for a bit.  Nothing big or amazing, but a fun little evening with our fabulous friends, celebrating one FABULOUS person!

Here are the kids earlier in the day writing sweet birthday notes to dad and drawing awesome pictures!

Kambrie loves to trace her hand.  

She also draws the cutest little half imaged stick person.  So dang cute!

Tanner is an AMAZING artist, but still needs some grammar work and making his words legible.  Writing isn't his favorite yet, but it's oh so cute when he does.

Happy birthday Dad, we love you so much!

seeing double

We just got back from Utah, again.

This was our second trip out to Utah this Summer.  Well, second for me and the kids.  I got lucky and got to go in June because I dropped the kids off at my parents while Landon and I went to Mexico and then I stayed a little longer while Landon went to Boston on a work trip.  So I feel double lucky that I had so much time out there this Summer.

Our celebrations were for my dad, turning 60 and partying big time.
We had so much fun.

I have a lot to post.  I don't know if I can ever catch up with my life!

Some other great memories from the trip are:

We drove round trip for the first time.  We've always flown. It was an adventure to say the least.  The kids actually did surprisingly well.  We watched lots of movies :)  It was cool to say that we visited 8 states in two weeks:
Missouri, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Kansas.
-In Wyoming we made a detour so we could stop at my sisters house in Casper.  It was fun for the kids to see where their cousins live and fun to be in their home.  Also, an hour out of Casper we were able to stop at Martins Cove and see a critical and sacred spot of pioneer history.  (some great advantages to driving)
-Stopping at Martins Cove was a great reminder of the blessings we have that the Pioneers afforded us.  It was also amazing to see the Pioneers trek from Missouri to Utah was almost the exact route we DROVE, and they had to WALK it and battle the elements and difficulties that we can't even comprehend.  It made me a little more thankful that I was in my comfortable car with AC instead of walking in the heat and weeds.
-We drove to Island Park and visited the breathtaking Yellowstone National Forest
-Enjoyed the beautiful mountains in Colorado

We lightened our load coming home without any binki's or diapers!  That's right.  Kambrie was still wearing a diaper at night and we got rid of those.  She is finally completely potty trained.  She's had some occasional accidents in bed, but overall we are so happy and so lucky she's been able to learn how to train herself!
We also got rid of the binki.  I couldn't find them one night and I was sick of always looking for them, buying new one's, and worrying about having access to one when needed.   So the night we needed it and couldn't find it, I just told her "the pirates came and stole them...they took them to the mermaids."  (she had fallen in love with The Little Mermaid this trip, hence the mermaid addition).  Surprisingly Kambrie bought the story and since that night hasn't had her binki!!!  I almost gave in a few times, because it sure serves as a great cork when needed...but she has been good and only asked for it a few times.  Every now and then she asks "pirates took my binki?"  I just say yes and she says okay!!  A few times she even said "No no, captain Hook took them.  Have Peter Pan save them!"  Too cute!!


The open windowed vistas were constant beautiful scenery for us.  We loved Kambries excitement with each passing temple we saw too!  Kansas City Missouri, Ogden, Bountiful, SLC, Logan, Brigham City, Jordan River, Oquirrh, and more.  We were able to stop at 4 of them to create memories and capture pictures.  Kambrie saw several brides and exclaimed they were "princesses" in their castle!  She asked if she could be a princess and go in the temple.  It was so adorable.
One day my sweet princess, you will go!!

SLC above

Brigham City below