Family Photos by Jocelin
visit her website: photographybyjocelin.com

Some of my favorites. Jocelin does such an incredible job it is hard to choose which ones to print. It's all I can do to not just plaster my walls with these cute photos of my husband and kids!

Marley Sage
smart ~ patient ~ loving ~ independent ~ pretender ~ dancer ~ pleaser ~ ignorer ~ nice ~ short tempered ~ singer

Ivy Giselle
sweet ~ grouchy ~ moody ~ naughty ~ lover ~ playful ~ stubborn ~ comforter ~ giggles ~ silly ~ couch potato ~ snuggler

A night with the Benson's

It's not often that we get together with Larry's family but since they were having a barbeque in at Greg and Linda's tonight we decided to go. They have the coolest house, a renovated barn with some of the original brickwork and doors. Very unique. We had a great time. The girls played upstairs while I visited with the family. Greg showed the girls the fishpond and strawberry patch and we found some baby potato bugs. I got a quick picture of Grandma Mae and the girls on the bridge on the way out, but wish I would have taken a photo of everyone since it will probably be a while before we see them again.

Hogle Zoo

We spent the morning at Hogle Zoo with Charity, Terrence, and Easton. I was so glad we went early because all the animals were awake instead of sleeping in the hot sun. The highlight of the trip was in the big cat house when the leopard was pacing right in front of the kids and when we got to watch a training session with the tiger. It even growled for us which was pretty cool. While we were looking at the zebras Marley said, "Look Mom, can you see his peanuts?" The guy behind us started laughing as did I. I presume she learned that terminology from Cole. I wanted to take the kids to the pool after to cool off but they both fell asleep before we made it to the freeway, so it was homeward bound.

06/25 Drama Queen

Ivy changes clothes 5 times a day, 3 of which are usually leotards. She has names for every outfit and favorites of course and when she can't find what she wants, you better watch out. This little number she was looking for "pink sparkly" was in the washer but that was unacceptable until she could see it with her own two eyes so while the washer was doing its thing Ivy cried, and cried, and yelled and cried. Finally when the washer beeped she went in to find it and the world was okay again. Of course she had to wait for it to dry but that was okay because at least she knew where it was.

2008 Summer Games and Father's Day

June 11-14, 2008
Utah Summer Games in Cedar City
My nephew Conner is on a rockin' soccer team: USA. They played a tournament in the Summer Games in Cedar City. They were the defending champs and took the Gold Medal once again! Conner is the one in the front row with black on his cheeks. The girls and I tagged along with Lisa and her boys to watch a whole lot of soccer and hang out. It seemed like a good idea until the 3rd day and all the kids were sleep deprived. A couple of meltdowns and a Gold Medal later we were happy to be back home. Marley's favorite part: swimming; Ivy's favorite part: the Jazz Bear at the Opening Ceremony; my favorite part: watching Conner kick butt.




June 15th ~ Father's Day
We visited my family in Highland on Father's Day. Had some good food and presents. Dumb me, got him a gift he already had~ a Camelback for hiking. Good thing he got a gift receipt with that right? We rushed home trying to beat Rusty since the house was still a mess from our Cedar City junk. He was on his way home from Lake Powell with Reinier and Steve, and they beat us despite our mad dash from Highland. The girls had both fallen asleep in the car so all Rusty got on Father's Day was some kissable sleeping babies. On Monday they gave him our gift ~ a blower for the yard. It was kind of a selfish gift since I mow and trim the lawn 95% of the time!

San Diego, why not?

Rusty was out of town for the first of the week and when he got back he kept asking me if we could go to Vegas, if my mom would take the kids, let's go do something.....etc. I was supposed to work both Saturday and Sunday so I was like sorry babe...that's what you get for being a slave driver. Well, last minute I was able to get out of my shifts so we decided to go to San Diego! I was working Friday night and got an email that my weekend shifts were covered so we were on the computer that night trying to find somewhere to go. We called my parents and they were more than happy to take the kids, so we made plans to go to San Diego. We took the kids to my parents early Saturday morning and drove straight to the airport. When we got there we checked in to the hotel, The Sofia (which I would recommend to anyone), then headed straight for the beach. I did not understand how so many beautiful men and women were bouncing around in their swimsuits because I froze my butt off, had my sweater on all weekend! I thought San Diego was 75 degrees all year round, night, day whatever. I'm here to tell you, it is not!! We found this little mexican cantina that we actually had lunch at when we visited on our 4th anniversary, same spot, same beach, same table. Fun little spot to reminisce about times before kids :)! After that we walked down the beach and decided to go to the Padres Game. Since it was so freezing, we had to go to the mall and get warm clothes, thanks honey. New jeans and sweatshirt. The game was fun, the Padres won. $9 beers, $7 hot dogs $5 cotton candy, good thing it didn't last all night! I wanted to go out after the game but we were both so tired we just went back to the room. We literally fell asleep with our clothes on. Sad. We are old. Sunday morning we had breakfast in the hotel and went for a drive. We drove to a couple of wineries, which was really interesting and drove through Torrey Pines. Golf lovers probably know the US Open was this held there this weekend. Not a golf lover, don't know who won, check espn.com if you care. We proceeded down through La Jolla, cool, cool place, and had dinner in Pacific Beach. Then it was time to head back to even chillier SLC. Fun trip, loved the spontaneity. The kids had a lot of fun with my parents too. They took them to church, I kept my fingers crossed that the kids wouldn't offend the primary teachers. They always say cute things about church that make me laugh. All in all, it was a fun weekend, hopefully more will come in the near future. I have to admit that it has been a while but don't you just love cotton candy?

Marley's Dance Recital

May 31, 2008

Marley's dance recital was so sweet but so not sweet too. She and the other girls were so cute and did just as they were taught, but the organization of the studio was a big joke. I was almost embarassed for the owner. Although their location is the most convenient, we are not registering with this studio again! We are going to start gymnastics for both girls and try dance again at another studio that we have had great recommendations from.

4 IS NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS

Four. Carefree, fun, energetic, simple ~ the first thoughts that come to mind when thinking of a 4 year old right? Well today I'm here to make a case for the 4 year olds: life is not as easy, breezy as it looks. About half way through this week I realized what adult conversations I was having with Marley, and that I have had nearly 30 years to think about these things and this is just the introduction for her. Here's a sampling of what her little brain is trying to comprehend this week:

~The logistics of "I promise" and "pinky promise". Marley had to visit the dr. today about a sore that won't go away. We had to stop at Target to fill the perscription and she got a treat ~ body glitter~ because she promised me she would let me squeeze more "germs" out of the sore tonight like the dr. ordered. However, when the time came to squeeze it she flipped out and would not allow it. I explained that I had to take the body glitter away because she didn't keep her promise. How unfair is that? So not cool. She was so sweet and tried telling me through her tears that she promised that next time she makes a promise she would do it and that she really promises. And if you make a pinky promise then you don't promise then you don't get a treat. And if you don't make a pinky promise then you can't do what Dr. Cami says. I felt so bad taking away the body glitter at that point. She clearly did not know the commitment of "pinky promise". Being the sweetheart that she is she put the body glitter in my drawer and with eyes overflowing with tears told me that next time she makes a promise she'll get it back.

~Why she must be warned about creepy old men in WalMart lurking and searching for mom's that have turned their backs on the children left in the basket, wanting to touch their privates. (Reported on KUTV News) She said "and they'll go to jail right? Like if you don't buckle your seatbelt." I guess for a 4 year old that's a good enough comparison. I didn't want to argue that fact but tried to explain that's why she never leaves mommy's side.

~Why you can't go outside alone to practice riding your scooter. What lying is and that you can't say your sister did it when you ripped the sheets off your bed. Why mom and dad get to go to a birthday party and a party lovin' 4 year old can't go. How when little sisters cry and whine, the 4 year old is reprimanded and told not to make her cry and whine. Why you can't climb the shelves of the pantry to get treats out of the treat box when all you want is some chocolate.

So there is my case for the 4 year olds. There is so much being thrown at them, I think we (I) should give them a break. Let them cry and laugh and talk and express all the emotion they must be feeling in any way they can. At this age they can talk and understand and ask questions and come to conclusions all by themselves. Maybe we (I) should take a moment and remember she's only 4 and give her back the body glitter. She'll figure out promises later, right?

At the end of the day, after trying to understand all of what she's been taught, she said to me, "Good night mommy. I hope you have sweet dreams. And I hope they're about me....and monkey...and Ivy." I hope her sweetness will always shine through at the end of every day, no matter what life throws at her.