Bridal Veil Falls.

Today I took my niece, Naomi, and Jaakson for a hike up to one of my favorite spots, Bridal Veil Falls! We hiked most of the way up on a more difficult trail too! We eventually made it to the lower tier of the waterfall and after decided to take the easy trail back down. It was a perfect day for hiking and we had a blast!

Joshua and Katee all the way!!!!

I just LOVE them! I love the way they dance, I love their chemistry, and I love them both as individuals! They aren't cocky or arrogant. They are adorable. I'm ALL about this duo ALL THE WAY!

A scene from the movie "Twilight!"

*Looks promising!

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward..."

This weekend was all about Klint cuz he turned the big 3-0! 30 years old! I had fun being sneaky! On Saturday he thought we were going to a matinee movie but instead I took him to the Provo airport for his first hourlong flight in aviation achool! He was so suprised and excited! It was like watching a kid in a toy store. He did a great job, too! Klint got to do most of the flying and never got scared or nervous. I think he's a natural flyer. The instructor told Klint that he was better than the majority of the students he's instructed. Over half of the students that go up end up getting sick or have anxiety attacks apparently. Anywho, I'm SO proud of him. We decided that Klint will HAVE to fly at least once a month until the spring when we apply for a fat loan to pay for flight costs. Klint is SO excited to go up again! Klint told me a really cool Leonardo Davinci quote that expresses how he feels now...."When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." -- Leonardo da Vinci


After Klint's flight, we headed to the pool and had a blast! Unfortunately Jaakson had a "blast" too and decided not to tell Mom he'd pooped in his water diaper. It was too late by the time I noticed a lil floaty working it's way out of his board shorts! (I know, Eww!) SO I immediately got him out of the water and told the lifeguard who was a few feet away of the situation....She waited a few seconds, to which I was extremely grateful, so I could hide my head in shame away on my beach blanket. We left shortly after... Maybe it was the nachos that did it for Jaakson...

Later that night, I threw Klint a suprise kabob BBQ with some family and friends! It was a lot of fun and the kabobs were delicious! Plus, we got to see some friends we haven't seen in a couple years! (Yes YOU, Garrett and Shelby!;)




Father's Day was Klint's birthday AND Father's Day! I am so grateful to be with a man who values our children and truly loves them and is a part of their everyday life! Klint is a truly dedicated father. Klint works so hard for our family and we LOVE him SOOOO much! I'm double-blessed when it comes to the two prominent men in my life. I believe that I found an amazing husband and father to my children only because I had a truly exceptional example growing up. I have the best Dad in the world. I really do. Dad, thank you for everything you've done for me. Thank you for the solid counsel you have always given me. Thank you for being my Dad first and friend second. Thank you for being a perfect example of patience. Thank you for loving the Lord the way you do. And lastly, thank you for loving Mom and our family and showing me how very possible it is to raise a loving, united family in this day and age. I love you, Dad!

P.S.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes from my birthday last week!

my favorites from SYTYCD this week...

Gave me chills. I was a lil' emotional after watching that...


Go Thayne! He's from Mapleton, UT! I think he's adorable. She's a saucy lil' thing too, isn't she!?


Such a fun routine! Love this couple! Gev is from UT, btw.... ;)

My niece's recital on Saturday...

Jaakson absolutely LOVES his cousins Kenzie, Halle, and Savannah! I can get him to do ANYTHING if I tell him he gets to go see these cousins.... muah ha ha! ;) He'll even go to dance recitals and watch the whole thing if his cousins are in it! My niece Halle is third from the right in the first video. My favorite part is when she hands the girl the feather boa. She's so cute!




Kenzie is second from the left on the front row, in the black sequined outfits! SHe is so cute! The whole time you can see she's looking at us in the audience. Love these girls! Unforunately I didn't get to video Tara's dance! Next time though....

Elephant slides and polka-dot bikinis....

Yay! I decided it'd be easier to buy a pool than to go to the Provo pool everyday. This pool is so cute! I got it at Target. Jaakson loved it and Shae preferred lounging on the blanket.....such a girl. ;)

I love Sundays.

Sundays. I'm so grateful that one of the Lord's commandments is to "keep the Sabbath day holy." If I didn't have the Sabbath day to focus on the Gospel and to rest from work and errands the crazy week we always have, I'd literally go insane! In addition, it wouldn't take long for me to lose sight of my priorities in life.

27.

I'm now one year older and wiser.

P.S. I hate surprise birthday parties. I love Klint for tryin' though. ;)

I love my ghetto neighborhood....

The other day Jaakson and the other neighbor kids were out playing in the front yard and I had taken his red car outside for him to scoot around in. Now, most of the families at the end of our culdesac will bring their toys out and everyone shares and is generally pretty good about making sure the toys stay in the owner's yard or they'll even return the toys after they are done playing with them that day. This particular evening I had to go instruct at the school until 10 pm. I got a text during my class from two different neighbors telling me that they were on a walk with their kids and saw Jaakson's car in someone else's yard a few blocks away. (Jaakson's car is distinctive because of a wheel that's broken.) I say Thanks and decide to check it out on my way home from work. When I get home, I find out from Klint that another neighbor came by and told him that her friend was the one who took it and she's sorry and told him where her friend lived. But when Klint went by earlier that evening, when it was still light out, he didn't see the car. When I went by a lil' before 11 pm there it was, stashed under the outside stairs. So I loaded it up and had half a mind to leave a note on their door that said, "Next time just give me a twenty and we'll call it good...." Of course, I didn't. When I got home and was unloading the car, my neighbor was outside having a smoke with some friends and called out to me, "Sorry for my friend stealing that!" I just laughed and said thanks for the heads up. Anywho, the point I'm making is that I have always joked about my culdesac being "ghetto" and have called it "Felon Cir." We've seen some interesting neighbors in the past year or so we've lived here (the cops used to drive thru regularly) but I really have come to genuinely love every one of my neighbors. I really feel like our lil cul-de-sac is the type of neighborhood where one looks out for the other. We've come together, despite our differences, to try to make it a place that we can raise our families and a place where we can cultivate genuine friendships with one another. Some might look at my cul-de-sac and think "sketchy" and high-tail outta there (I know I did), but I can honestly say had I not lived here, in this specific neighborhood, I don't know that I would have been enlightened or had experienced such signifigant personal growth as I have in the past year. I would not have learned how to truly understand others VERY different from myself in VERY many ways. All in all, I love my "ghetto" neighborhood....

1st encounter with applesauce...

Note: Yes, that's my two-year-old surfing the net in the backround...