She reads

Molly is a reader! She whips through these books quicker than I can buy them. I love seeing this process unfold. I hope she always loves books as much as I do!

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Reach the Beach

Jon rode 104 miles yesterday for Reach the Beach. He did an awesome job, arriving at the beach in under seven hours. Thank you to all who contributed to The American Lung Association in his name. He exceeded his monetary goal, and rode in memory of my dad, who suffered from lung disease.

The whole family met him and his friend Taylor at the finish for a feast, and then we stayed the night at the coast and swam and played on the beach.

We are super proud of our hubby/daddy for training for and completing such a big event! We think he is awesome and are so grateful for his desire to stay strong and healthy for his family!

Peter Pan

Olivia was an Indian Princess in her school's performance of Peter Pan. She has been so excited about the play for months now, and it was fun to finally see it on stage. She was, in fact, so excited about the play that she hand wrote about 20 invitations which she handed out to her friends who don't go to her school. Too bad there was no charge for the play, because Olivia would have generated some serious revenue for her school (which could really use the cash right now, as they just announced they will be closing after next year)!

Lots of friends came, as well as Abby, our sweet cousin and only family near us! I wish I had taken more photos! Here is Olivia with one of her favorite primary teachers!

Molly gave her big sis flowers after her final performance on Friday night.


Olivia with Smee (her friend Henry) and a lost kid (her friend Malaika).


And, here she is with her teacher for the past two years. She, along with two other teachers for these classes, makes these plays happen each year. They are all incredible! She has been an amazing blessing to Olivia and to our family. We will miss her so much!


Thank you to all of those who came and supported Olivia. It meant so much to her to see so many smiling, supportive people out in the audience. Without a lot of family near, our friends are so great to pick up the slack and support my kids.

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Molly's dance...

Mother's Day

My kids were adorable on Mother's Day. They made me a great french toast breakfast. My favorite, yum! They also made me a yummy picnic lunch, which we shared on the floor of our living room, because it was raining cats and dogs, and Molly was sick, so we couldn't make it to the Rose Garden (which is our traditional Mother's day outing). I had to share some of the amazing things they made me. I am a sucker for anything they make. It feels so good to receive a gift that they made while thinking of me!

Olivia made me this awesome bowl. She made it from clay. Patterned it. Fired it. Painted it. Fired it again. So cool. I am using it for a jewelry dish. It makes me so happy!

Max and Molly did an awesome program/Mother's day tea at their preschool. They performed darling little skits and sang songs that they have been working on all year. This is the adorable card they made me: (and having twins is so fun, because I got TWO!)

Then, their teacher had them draw a picture especially for me, and they had notecards made with their darling art work! How fun is that? I will smile each time I write a note on one of these little babies, and I hope anyone who receives one will smile, as well!

I asked Max about his art work, and he said it is a mean guy in a space ship. Fun.

And, here is Molly's:

I love my children, and am so happy that I am their mother. They are sweet, adorable, and challenge me every day. Which I am mostly grateful for.

I also happen to have the best mother in the whole world.

Lake Run

So, my running buddy, and just all around buddy, Brittany, and I decided to run the Lake Run 12k last Saturday. We renegade (aka didn't pay) ran it, so we have no official number. It's always fun to run with Brittany, although as of late, she may not say the same about me. I have been a sick, slow friend for a while now. But, I am coming back. So....

Here we are before the run! So excited!

And after, with our awesome friends who actually paid to do the run!

This was my first time doing this exact route, although I run around "my" lake all the time, and let me tell you: It was a butt-kicker. Only 7.5 miles, but uphill all the way (I know that sounds impossible, when you start and end at the same place, but trust me, it was uphill the whole way. Try it. I dare you!). Of course, my two month hiatus from running and severe respiratory issues may have contributed to my struggle a tad bit. Brittany is the best running buddy/true friend ever, because she stuck with me the whole way, and let me slow her down, and then pretended to be just as tired as me. I love that girl!

And, we still ended up with a respectable 1:08, which is just over a nine minute mile. So, we didn't suck that bad. I am just super excited to be back on the road. I know I am a weirdie, but it's my sanity.

My kids have got talent...

Our Ward's Primary put on the most amazing talent show! They went all out with a big theme, fun judges, awesome snacks, and red carpet. It was super fun to watch all of our talented friends strut their stuff. Of course, my kiddos were excited to be involved. I am so proud of their confidence in their unique talents and wanted to share what they felt their talents are:

Olivia loves to do art. She has been working on a project for a while that she calls "Squiggles." It is a story with illustrations. She won "Illustrator of the Month" and "Author of the Month" in her fourth grade class for her efforts. She displayed her art work art work, story and awards.

Max is a builder. He loves it. He eats up anything involving Legos, Trios, gears or magnets. He is really creative in how he builds. Sometimes he sticks with the step by step instructions, which he can do with no help at all, and other times he creates as he goes. Once he gets things built, he spends hours playing creatively with them. It is one of the things that makes me happiest in the whole world: listening to Max play pretend. For the talent show, he painstakingly decided what he would take to show his friends. He got really into it. Here he is with his display:

I will try to upload a video of Molly's dance performance later, if I can figure it out. She did a darling job! I love my kids, they are the best.

P.S. Ian's talent is being dang cute!

The Tulip Festival

We ventured south to the Tulip Festival this past weekend. It was a lovely day, and the tulips were breathtaking! Somehow, in almost nine years of living here, I have never gone to this festival, and now I don't think I will ever miss a year again! Tulips are my absolute favorite flower, and the kids really loved seeing all of the different colors. Now, everywhere we go, they are pointing out tulips!

Here is Molly (front) and Olivia (behind) by a really fun star-shaped grow box of tulips!

Molly loved these red ones! Look how hearty they are!

Fields and fields as far as you could see of every color tulip!

Ian posing (no, he's not cold. This is his "cheese" stance).

I could not convince Olivia that they don't smell good! She smelled every color!

If the shoe fits...

Everyone got to hold this parrot. It was the highlight of the day!

It was a great outing. A perfect way to enjoy the last day of April in the SUN! I am glad I braved it (Jon was out of town). We are dragging Daddy with us next year, for sure!

Easter Dress

**as promised, the kids in their Easter best (recreated yesterday!)