Sunday Afternoon

The weather was so nice today,

we decided to take a break from unpacking

and go to the park right down the road from our house.

We had a great time.

We loved having our friends come help us move!

This last picture was taken literally less than 5 minutes before a shooting in the same park.

I thought we had picked a nice neighborhood.

We had no idea who shot whom.

As we were leaving to head back home, 3 cop cars come flying into the neighborhood. They all had lights on, but no sirens. The first cop pulls over and rolls his window down. He asks us if we had seen a silver civic come flying into the neighborhood. We hadn't seen anything and he peeled out as he was driving off. The two that were following him flipped a u-turn and since the street wasn't wide enough they drove across people's lawns. At this point I knew something big was going on. We started out of the park and hadn't made it too far when more police officers show up. We had made it to one of the houses next to the park and start talking to one of the neighbors. As we were talking we hear pop, pop, pop. We all look around at each other in shock. Then when the realization sets in we all start running away from the park. We make it as far as the major street that we had to cross (which isn't far) before we were stopped. The police had changed the lights to allow them to get through on green, and all the other directions were red. The police were still close enough that the lights weren't going to change. We weighed our options and ended up crossing the road on a red.

We found out later that the civic was stolen from a town about 20 miles away. The suspect then robbed a convince store in the neighboring town. He led police on a high speed chase through both towns and just happened to end up at the park that we were at.

Graduation Part 1

This year we are lucky enough to have 2 graduates!!

Hunter is our first of the year.

Miss Lorie and Avery were amazing teachers.

They learned a poem a month.

For the program Hunter had to say his turtle poem.

The poor little girl that had to say it with him was so nervous that she didn't say a word.

There was a little turtle.

He lived in a box.

He swam in a puddle.

He climbed on the rocks.

He snapped at a mosquito.

He snapped at a flea.

He snapped at a minnow.

He snapped at me.

He caught the mosquito.

He caught the flea.

He caught the minnow,

but he didn't catch me!

Thanks a million Lorie and Avery!!

I am a Child of God!

I loved this, and hope you will too!

Family Pictures

As I'm sure you've read earlier, I'm obsessed.

and since we're moving, I had to have one last indulgence.

We went to Fotofly again.

I love them!

This one (above) is going above our fireplace in the new house.

First Swim of the Season

So the day started typical of last year.

Hunter showing no fear of the water and hardly waiting for us to open the cover.

Mckinley was a little timid and took her time getting in.

and that's when things changed.

Hunter had a blast doing flips in the pool.

Mckinley was pretty daring. She started clinging on to people. Then she started kicking more and more. Finally she pointed to the slide and demanded to be put on it.

and she pushed herself off.

THEN she demanded to go down the slide. All the way from the top.

She wasn't waiting for anyone to help her.

She loved it, and did it again, and again, and again.

Toward the end of our trip, she figured out how to float on her own and was starting to figure out how to maneuver herself around.

We couldn't get Hunter to go down the slide, but he was crazy about jumping in.

Mckinley couldn't be outdone.

FINALLY, we got Hunter to go down the slide, but only with Daddy.

It was an awesome day! Even if it was cut short because of a thunder storm.

Happy Mother's Day

Today was a very special Mother's day for me.

Madelynn Mae was blessed by her daddy.

YEAH!! He's finally home!

I'm so blessed to be surrounded by worthy priesthood holders that could participate in this blessing.

These are the special men that helped bless her.

From left to right Todd, Garrett, Ken, Shane, Erik with Madelynn, Philip, Louis, Greg, Jeff

and relationships left to right Uncle, Uncle, Grandpa, Uncle, Dad, G-Grandpa, G-Grandpa, Grandpa, Uncle

My parents with Madelynn.

Erik's parents with Madelynn

Our new family picture.

At least someone got a nap. . .

That last statement isn't completely true.

EVERYONE actually took a Sunday nap, and it was HEAVENLY!!

I'm so grateful for all the Mothers in my life,

for my mom, my grandma's, and for Erik's mom for raising him to be the man he is.

I hope you had a great Mother's day as well!

Easter 2011

This Easter was fun!

The Easter bunny was generous.

He left confetti eggs and they LOVED smashing them on their heads.

Then we were off to see my cousin Spencer at his ward, for his "homecoming" talk.

COOLEST. Ward. Ever.

They had an orchestra!!

Seriously people, an orchestra.

Violins, Violas, a Cello and a Bass.

Then we went to my grandma's for the annual easter egg hunt.

The kids hated waiting for everyone to show up so they could find all the eggs.

Mckinley caught on so quickly.

Waiting for the big prizes. . .

Yes, my family does hide eggs that high in the trees!

After the egg hunt and dinner, everyone, except the little kids, crashed.

It was an exhausting day.

And even though I didn't get pictures, Grandma and Grandpa Smith stopped by and brought the kids some goodies.