Colorado Road Trip

Colorado Reunion

July 16th-20th we went on a little "vacation" with our Hardwick family to Alamosa, Co. to our family reunion. We drove 20 hrs both ways in a luxurious Town and Country minivan. Equipped with leather seats, dvd player, usb ports, plenty of cup holders, and 7 seats, it was perfect for our 7 passengers! We rented that van and drove all the way! Keaton and Kori were such amazing travelers! Thanks to Pintrest for the awesome road trip ideas, Keaton had a map that let him know where we were and we practiced saying each state we went through and learning fun facts. He also got a "prize" every 100 miles or so for being good/to entertain him for the next 100 miles. He was so good he didn't even need all his prizes and didn't watch too much tv. He was fantastic! Kori was a little trooper too and slept and played in her carseat :). 

We had some fun little stops! Day 1 we stopped at a rest stop for a picnic lunch, flew a kite, saw lots of nature on the nature trail, even saw a deer reservation. We also stopped in Amarillo at the Cadillac Graveyard http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2220, a dinosaur museum in New Mexico, and then on to Co. where we went to parades, rodeo, demolition derby, park, carnival, Jack Dempsey 5k, and of course family reunion and trip to the mountains. We had a blast while there with cousins and family!!! Then, we drove straight home saturday night after the demolition derby...20 hrs. non-stop! Which went pretty well. 

I am so glad we had the opportunity to go with my mom and sisters! It was so fun to share with my little family and kids all the fun things that I got to do as a kid every 24th of July celebration time in Colorado. I loved every minute of it and loved making new memories with my family! I know Keaton had a blast, and I think Kori enjoyed her first family vacation too! :) 

car ride 

Cadillac graveyard and dinosaur museum random stops :) 

Family, 5k, carnival, demolition derby, and smokes in the mountains! 

Yummy food, cousins, learning how to eat sunflower seeds from Aunt Mica, and happy girl!

Last, but not least for sure, the beautiful mountains and my family! What an amazing thing to be with family in nature! You can't doubt there is a Heavenly Father who loves us and created all these beautiful things for us! I know he did, and I know he created me and my beautiful family!!! He is awesome!!! 

Mother's Day!

Mother's Day!!!

This Mother's Day was definitely interesting, but I loved every bit of it! From story-time at the library with stories and pictures of mommies and their kids, to the cute songs, to the adorable craft, AND Keaton making sure we got matching stickers! He is so sweet! Then, Sunday he helped bring me breakfast in bed that daddy made, the cute card he and daddy made me during primary, and he took me on a walk when I was sad that daddy had to go in to work. Then, Jason surprised me when I woke up this morning (monday) with goodies he got me late last night! And...I got some glasses...I said they could be my mother's day present! lol 

I LOVE THESE BOYS!! I am so eternally grateful to be mom!! It is the greatest blessing, gift, calling, job, honor...EVER!! It is hard, but so fun and so worth it!! THANK YOU boys for the wonderful mother's day!!!

Baby Shower!

BABY GIRL SHOWER

I had the best shower this past weekend put on by my wonderful La Place Ward and Jefferson Ward church families! Thank you so so very much!! I am all set now for baby girl and can't wait to meet her! I can't thank y'all enough! I had a fabulous time and I hope everyone else did too! I am so lucky to have such great friends!!!!

Easter Festivities Part 2 & 3

Easter at the Park (Part 2 of Easter)

Saturday the 19th, I had a church activity to go to, so Jason (the best daddy ever!) took Keaton to the "Parish Easter Egg Hunt at the Park". Keaton apparently had a pretty good time! This year he seems to be pretty tight with the easter bunny (the one at the library, the one at the park, and the one at the mall) (he just says "hey bunny" and waves and high-fives and they part waves and he just has this look like 'ya I know him...im so cool' haha! Anyways, at the park he got to sit in a fire truck and pretend he was driving, go on an easter egg hunt, play on the play ground, eat some pizza, and hang out with daddy! I am jealous and sad I couldn't be there, but I had a great time on my trip too. Here are their pics. 

Easter at Home (Part 3 of Easter)

Keaton LOVED his easter basket this year! The bunny hit the jack-pot! He got a Spider-man shirt, 2 spider-man card games (you know how he loves games!), a bubble machine (so mommy and daddy don't have to blow bubbles all the time lol), a new church shirt, and of course candy. He FREAKED when he saw his spider-man shirt! He wanted to put it on right away and then wore it 24 hours straight lol (only taking it off for a bath). And now when he is wearing it, he wants to be called "spider-man Keaton" haha! He loved hunting for eggs in the yard, and is also obsessed with his bubble machine! The only thing he wasn't thrilled about was his church shirt! lol of course, but he looked like a stud even with his spider-man shirt on underneath (after the hr. tantrum he threw before church...and that we couldn't take easter family pictures after church! aye aye aye!!).

Egg Dying and baskets! We decided to try the "fake/plastic" easter eggs this year and it definitely was an experiment! We will do better with them next year, but they were nice to have and not worry about when he dropped them if they would crack. And he loved putting funny face stickers on them :)

Basket fun! Excited/shocked face with his new shirt (he ran right to his basket...knocked everything over and yanked the shirt out!), his new games, his bubble machine, and his candy.

Some egg hunting at the house :) 

And his Easter Sunday shirt (of course spider-man shirt is underneath). He is still a stud!

EASTER FESTIVITIES: Part I

Easter at the Library!

Wednesday, we got to go to Easter at the Library! We read stories, met the Easter bunny, got to take home a craft, and of course got to go on an easter egg hunt!! Keaton loves candy, eggs, and the easter bunny so he was in heaven!! He even found 2 prize eggs and picked out a fish beach ball, and a dragon book! He can't stop talking about the easter bunny and how much fun he had and how he got to sit on his lap. He was so cute! Every time a kid would get off the bunny's lap and he had a break lol, Keaton would whisper to me "mom...my turn" and run to sit on the bunny's lap. Once he was done, he would hop off and shake the bunny's hand and tell him thank you!  He is so sweet!! 

I can't wait to dye easter eggs tonight with Keaton, and Jason is taking him to the park for an Easter in the Park put on by our parish tomorrow! I haven't even told Keaton about it because I know he will freak out and want to go right now! I will post pictures of those soon, plus of course our visit from the easter bunny at our house! And, hopefully I will get some good Easter "family pictures" of us too!

General Conference

General Conference= Gumbo!

This weekend was the 184th semi-annual General Conference address of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is where we have an opportunity to hear messages and talks prepared by the prophet, his counselors, the 12 apostles, and other general auxiliary leaders of the church. It was a very good conference weekend and I have come away from it feeling spiritually edified and uplifted. We decided to start a new tradition I think and have Gumbo in between Sunday sessions. It was delicious!! I have an amazing recipe thanks to an amazing person and it hit the spot! And, the "aries"(what keaton calls them) loved it too! 

Here is the gumbo, and the pictures Keaton took after conference was over. This guy is good with an iPhone! 

WE ARE BACK!!!!

WE ARE BACK!!!

Yesterday, Jason was texting me while at work and suggested that I start up my blog again. I told him that I thought that was an excellent idea even if it was just for me to use as a journaling/scrapbooking sort of outlet. So...WE ARE BACK!!! We have been going on tons of 'adventures' lately and have tons of new and exciting things going on that I am sure y'all have all seen on Facebook, but here is where you can get more details! 

I recently made a photo book on shutterfly.com and love it! I figure this is a good way to catch y'all up on what has been happening since a little before the hurricane-until now. I will keep back posting a little bit on the major things, but mainly start posting our daily stuff-starting now lol. SO, here is our album...check it out.... http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0SaMXLNq2buZA.

Hope you missed seeing us!!