Mitchel's 7th birthday

Mitchel turned 7 on April 26th. I can't believe that he is another year older. He is finishing up his 1st grade year at Discovery. It has been a great year for him. He loves his teacher Mrs. McLaren and he has done well in 1st grade, his reading has improved a ton and we are hoping that we can continue to read all summer so that he stays where he needs to be. This last year Mitchel participated in t-ball, football, wresting and basketball. His favorites are wrestling and football. Right now we are struggling to finish out the basketball season.

For his birthday this year he got to have lots of fun. On his birthday on Tuesday I took doughnuts into his class at school and after school we went to Leo's place and had a little party with the Fuhriman family. Then tonight we had the Sargent family over for cake and ice cream and a little party. He got lots of fun gifts and he was most excited to get the D.S. that he has been wanting for almost a year. He also got his new room finished in time for his birthday, so it has been nice that he has his own space to put his stuff in. Mitchel is a great kid, and he is such an important part of our family- I love him!
This is the cake I made for the first birthday party- I went easy this time since Reid didn't have time to decorate any cakes this week.

Mitch opening presents at Leo's place

he got a cool model train from Grandma and Grandpa Fuhriman

Reid

Blowing out his candles

This is the cake I made for his 2nd birthday party.

My Dad had this picture blown up and he made the frame- he is so excited to hang it in his new room that is all bare.

His gift from Sara and Shane

His DS attachments

And the DS

Easter weekend 2011

We had an incredibly busy, and fun Easter weekend.

We started out on Friday night with a baby shower for Leah who is due with her first baby girl on May 20th. The shower was a huge success and we had a great time.

Then on Saturday morning we got up early and got dressed up and met with the Fuhriman family for family pictures. For as many people- mostly little kids that we had there I think it went pretty good.

We then went over to Reid's parents house for an Easter Egg hunt. The kids had a ball finding all their eggs.

We then hustled over to my parents house for her Easter egg hunt. My Mom had all goodies and toys hidden around her yard for the kids. They had to find only the things that had their names on it.

After that hunt we went back over to Reid's parents house for Easter dinner. It was delicious. After spending several hours over there we headed home and decorated eggs. The kids enjoyed it, but after such a long day we were so tired!

The Easter bunny made it to our house last night, and we all got spoiled. The kids each got a pair of rain boots, and they each got something fun. Savanna got a kit to help make your own Knot-quilt, Mitch got a big floor puzzle of the map of the U.S., Treyton got a track with a truck, and Carolina got some books. Along with some candy for each of them.

It was pretty cute this morning when Treyton came to wake me up. I had told them the night before not to go into the living room until they come and get me, and that we had to wait until Dad got home from work (he was working nights). So when Treyton came in my room I told him we had to wait until Dad got home. I turned on some cartoons and after a few minutes he said "I think that the Easter bunny brought me rain boots." I asked him why he thought that and he said, "Well, I just wanted some". I asked him if he peaked, and he insisted that he didn't. I thought it was pretty cute.

The kids all got dressed up in their new Easter outfits, we had a great day at church and then headed over to my parents for Easter dinner. We had a great time with my family. My Mom had Easter baskets for us over there. The kids each got a pair of crocks, and a hat, and Reid and I each got a new shirt.

I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful family to celebrate such a special day with!

Savanna and her cousins Emily, Anna and Addi after family pictures.

Carolina really getting into the egg hunt

Savanna

Treyton

Mitch climbing the tree to get some eggs

Carolina's first egg hunt that she could walk at

Sargent cousins with their annual bunny ear pictures

Sargent cousins with their new animal hats

Mitch, he was on a constant run so I couldn't get a good picture of him

My Savanna

Treyton

Savanna and Treyton

Savanna with her haul

My kids dying their eggs

My kids baskets after the Easter bunny came

My kids in their new Easter outfits!

Mitchel's new room

We finished (well when I see "we", I mean "Reid") Mitchel's bedroom in the basement today. Reid did all by himself, except the tape and texture and the carpet. He did a fantastic job! The pictures don't do it justice at all. He picked out a camouflage bedspread and so Reid painted the walls a cool green color that goes great with it. He also painted his old dresser to match. Mitch is so excited to sleep in his new room tonight! Now I need to figure out some decorations for the walls.

I have decided that doing this finishing the basement one room at a time is the way to go! Now onto the bathroom!

My cute Mitch on his new bed!

The window

The closet

Savanna is so excited that she won't be the only one in the basement !

Carolina, she jsut wants to hang out down there with him.

The story of my hair

Before & After of my hair

I have spent most of my life having long-ish hair. I have always thought there is no way I could ever pull off a short hair cut, and so I never really considered cutting it short. I remember in high school a good friend of mine cut her hair into a very short pixie cut, and I remember thinking how cute it was but that I would never be able to do that (but kind of being a little jealous that I didn't have the nerve to try something different.)

The last several years I have sported my shortest look of a shorter a-line bob. I have really liked it but was feeling kind of bored with my hair. One day Reid suggested that I cut my hair short, short. I was shocked and amazed that he would like the idea of that. (He has always told me that he loved my hair when we got married- it was long and curly.) So I couldn't get it out of my mind to do it. I searched the internet for pictures of short hair for weeks and found cuts that I really liked. I asked friend and family what they thought and after 3 months of going back and forth I finally decided to go for it.

I had my cousin Miriam cut it, she has been working up in Rexburg at the beauty college as a cutting specialist, but now that she has a baby she has been working in her home cutting family member hair. I knew that she would do a good job, plus I wanted to give her some business.

So I did it, I think it is a good cut. I have been in a bit of shock over it all week. But it is starting to grow on me. I don't quite feel like myself, and honestly I don't know if I will keep it short like this, but it is a nice change and it is fun to try something new. It will also be really nice for the summer while I am training for my 1/2 marathon. And the best part of it is that it takes less than 5 minutes to do in the morning!

38

I don't know how this happened, but I turned 38 on April 1st. It doesn't seem possible, I feel like it wasn't very long ago that I was turning 18 and getting ready to graduate from High School. I feel very lucky that I am in a good place in my life. There are a few area's that I would like to improve on, but we will get there. I had a fun birthday party Sunday night with the Sargent Family, and Monday night with the Fuhriman family. I felt very spoiled and loved! I look forward to all there is to come. I hate posting pictures of myself, but Savanna took pictures last night at the party and told me she wanted me to put them on my blog.

Choosing the better part

This is my way of getting my feelings out, I promise I am not feeling sorry for myself anymore. I have had kind of a rough week, probably one of the worst one in a long time. Nothing major , I won't go into any details, but let me just say that I have experienced some un-kind words and deeds the last few days from people around me. I am trying to choose to forgive- forgetting takes a bit longer but I will work on that too. So today I have decided to try to think positively and choose to see the good things in life. I decided to make a list of the things that make me happy: *Family prayer each night with my sweet husband and kids. (I love to hear the things my kids pray for.) *Great health- I feel so lucky that I can run, play, & work and feel good. *A beautiful new home *The gospel of Jesus Christ and membership in his church. * A church calling that is a challenge to me, that is helping me grow spiritually *A hard working husband that loves me, despite my shortcomings *Savanna *Mitchel *Treyton *Carolina *Wonderful parents who love me and would do anything for me *Brothers and sisters that are my best friends *A job that I enjoy- even though it is challenging right now *My calling as a visiting teacher *The seasons- I love the change of seasons and I am glad that spring is finally coming! *Reading a good book- I love when I find a book that I love. See I already feel better and my list could go on and on.