the happiest place on earth

man our kids are spoiled...allison is barely three and she has already been to disneyland twice...not that she remembers the first time, she was just along for the ride. dan's parents were so generous and took all of their kids and grand kids to disneyland. we had so much fun with everyone and our kids were the perfect age to experience it again!

we took a lot of pictures so i will just pick a few to highlight the trip!

we got a personal visit with minnie and mickey. i thought allison would be so excited but she was scared of them. afterwards she said she wanted them to be little. i think she thought that they should be little like the figurines she plays with at home! i guess it makes sense...

i think logan was a little nervous to see the characters but he handled it better than allison and at least posed for a picture.

shortly after this lovely photo op in toon town allison had a mishap with the railing and the rocks. we're not sure exactly what happened because no one really saw. i think she was hanging from the railing and slipped and fell and smacked the back of her head on the rocks. they stopped the ride, called the paramedics and had her checked out....they were pretty efficient but i'm pretty sure they just wanted to cover all their bases so there wasn't a lawsuit :) she ended up having a big goose egg on the back of her head with a lot of blood and couldn't go on anymore fast rides but it was almost the end of the day so it ended up being ok. she did get a lot of sympathy looks from her bandage though...

i think this was at the end of our last day and although the kids don't look like it, they really did have a good time!

today is my dad's 60th birthday. so we decided to go to his grave site to celebrate his life and to remember him.

i have the sweetest little boy who inquires about a lot of things. he is a deep thinker and will often ponder some serious topics. i have had numerous discussions with him about the plan of salvation, our savior Jesus Christ, and resurrection. one night when i was putting him to bed we were talking about his great grandma who is getting older and we ended up both in tears as we talked about the plan of salvation. it was a tender moment as he had a glimpse into the wonderful plan our Heavenly Father has for us. 

before we left for the cemetery logan wanted to make something for his grandpa's birthday so he made picture of a rainbow. he also picked out some small toys to place by the headstone. i know these aren't the most important toys to him, but he was so serious as he picked something that he thought his grandpa would like. allison followed his actions and picked something to leave as well. they picked something that they made at a lowe's workshop but i like that they gave something that they had worked hard on and we so proud of.

i miss my dad a lot and often wonder how things would be different is he were still with us here on earth. but i am so thankful for these tender teaching moments where i can share my thoughts and feelings with my children. i am also thankful for the lessons they teach me...

splish splash

logan and allison were able to do swim lessons this summer. we signed up with some friends of ours so it made it even more fun. logan is a good swimmer and has always loved the water (except for a short few months one summer when he was scared...random...) he practiced his stroke this year and did great in his class.

allison is like a little fish in the water. she will jump in when no one is there and will swim to me a few feet and then back to the wall. i think she could have been in the next level skills wise but she was a little to young. next year for sure i think she will be swimming all around by herself!

happy birthday dan

today is dan's birthday! we had a little party for him this past weekend but our camera wasn't cooperating so we didn't get any pictures to turn out. i took the kids to goodwill and let them pick some gifts for dan. they had so much fun and it was nice to let them pick pretty much whatever they wanted. logan got dan a water bottle shaped like a bowling pin with his name on it and a monster truck poster. allison got him a snow globe with a bunny in it and a little happy birthday cat figurine-just what he wanted! they were so proud of their gifts and although more fun than serious, i know dan appreciated them. 

we love you dan--happy birthday!

rocky point

we had such a nice time in rocky point this year. logan and allison are at the perfect age to entertain themselves and play with other kids but still come and check in with us and stay close by. they had so much fun playing on the beach, building sand castles, playing with their cousins, and swimming in the water. we might even go as far as saying it was a relaxing time!

all i have to say about logan is that he is awesome. he is totally fearless and entered that water ready to surf the waves. once he got the hang of it he did not want to get out. he surfed those waves so much that he broke his brand new boogie board in half!

walking out to the water to test the waves.

 get ready...

go!

and ride it in....dan is such an awesome dad. he went and rode the waves with logan and taught him how to do it. by the end of the trip logan was going out and riding the waves all by himself. 

and who could resist a little snuggle time with dad!

we had so much fun and can't wait to go back in october!

preschool graduation

we have our first kindergartner in our house!

logan graduated from preschool in may. he has gone to the same preschool for the last two years and he has had such a great experience. we are so proud of how much he has grown and how much he has accomplished. from what we hear he is good to have in class and doesn't cause trouble. we love that he takes school seriously and is all business. 

here he is walking into the chapel where the program was held. he is such a friendly kid and got to walk in by his best friend grant.

here is logan and his little friend owen. owen is moving at the end of the summer and logan was kind of bummed when he realized what this meant.

here is logan with some of his other friends in his class...he had such a good group of kids in his class this year.

logan with his teacher miss kris.

we are so proud of logan and happy for his accomplishment. he is so excited for kindergarten and we are excited for him. yet at the same time we are going to miss this little preschooler and miss this little boy that is growing up too quickly!

happy mother's day

i had a great mothers day. i woke up to breakfast in bed served by a hot guy and the two cutest little kids!

dan got me a rice cooker and he must have read my mind because that is exactly what i wanted. logan and allison picked out a necklace for me and i think it is beautiful!

i'm so glad for the blessings of motherhood. i am so grateful to be a mom and i try to no take it for granted. i know it is truly a blessing and man alive i am trying my hardest to raise these sweet spirits how my Heavenly Father would want me to.