Sleep

Tonight Tiff is grateful for sleep. We woke her up from an unplanned nap while cheering for the Pacers tonight and she immediately attempted to update this blog because she tries to never miss a day. She only made it as far as looking at the pictures we took today. She's had a long last few days with time zone changes, wedding festivities, and parties. She didn't have to say a word tonight but I have a hunch she's grateful for sleep. Sweet dreams Tiff!

-Brad

Tennis

I LOVE playing tennis.

Especially with my hot husband.

I got to play with him today and it was so much fun!

I am improving little by little and hopefully someday I'll actually beat him in a game!

After we played he taught Kade how to play tennis.

It was adorable.

I will post pictures soon!

Airplanes

Today we took an airplane out to Utah and in what would have taken us over 24 hours by car, took about 6 hours by plane.

It was so nice to get here so quickly! 

I'm so grateful for airplanes!

Moments of Peace

Usually while I'm making dinner my cute kids are sitting up on the counter and watching me and wanting to help, or running around fighting and asking for things. 

I've become used to either scenario, but today it was so nice to let them go in the backyard to play together and to look out the window and see this:

I LOVE seeing them get a long and play well together! 

And I even got to enjoy a few minutes of a quiet house to finish up dinner.

The Discovery Channel

Tonight during our pizza party we watched the new series on the Discovery Channel called North America.

It was awesome!

The kids were even enthralled with the amazing images they captured of the animals and this beautiful continent. 

After the show they both fought over who got to cuddle with Dad. 

They make me laugh.

Articles of Faith

Today Kade recited the 5th Article of Faith in primary.

Brad worked with him all day to get him to memorize it.

I can't believe he is old enough to be doing things like that! I'm so proud of him.

And I am grateful for the Articles of Faith. They make it so easy to share with people what we believe.

Sunglasses

These cute kids make me laugh.

 In the car today I put on sunglasses and they wanted to wear some too, of course.

They look pretty stylin'!

BBQs, Dirt Dessert, and Cruising

Our awesome friends, Joe and Joanna (Kade loves how their names are pretty much the same!) invited us over for a BBQ tonight and we got to bring dessert. Maybe it's the spring weather or all the planting I've been doing lately, but I really felt like making "dirt dessert." It was one of my favorites as a kid and I thought Kade and Tenley might enjoy it too.

Kade had a hard time even touching the gummy worm at first, but then he had fun eating them and he especially loved the pudding and cookies.

It rained a lot this afternoon so we moved the BBQ into the garage. It actually ended up being a really nice evening and we enjoyed spending time with our friends.

When we left, it had cooled off a lot, the sun was setting, and there were some great songs on the radio. It was the perfect ambiance to roll our windows down and cruise all the way home. 

Sleepy Heads, Flowers, My Husband

Today was such a great day.

I took my cute kids to the museum this morning.

We planted flowers for our backyard after nap-time.

And we got to play with Dad at the park!

I'll take a repeat of today for the rest of the week!

Tenley was my little sleep head on the way home from the museum. Kade almost fell asleep too! He was just faking it in this picture though...He had a hard time not smiling.

Our lawn needs to be mowed, but I'm loving the life that is coming back into our backyard! I was really worried about it after most of the grass seemed to have died during the winter. And now with some fresh flowers it has become our little oasis again! Yay!

Normally when Brad has a long day at school he is ready to relax by the time that he gets home, but today we were happy to have him come play at the park with us! Kade wanted to play tag and some of the older kids there wanted to join in too. It was really hard to get a picture because they were all running around so fast, but it was fun to watch Brad play with some of the neighborhood boys. I love my man.

Story Time

Today we made it to the library for story time for the first time ever! 

The nice librarian read a few books, which surprising captured the kids attention, and then they were able to do a few art projects. 

 It was a lot of fun and I hope that we are able to do it more often.

Shade

Today started out pretty cold, then in the late morning the weather was perfect, then it was borderline too hot in the afternoon. It was crazy. 

I've discovered that Kade is more like his Dad than I thought. He hates being hot. This afternoon when we went out for a walk he kept requesting that I find some shade for us. 

Luckily we found plenty of shade and Kade was content.

So was I.

I love spending warm, sunny afternoons lying on a blanket in the shade at a park with my kids. 

Minus having a blanket, this afternoon was perfect.

Short PJ's

Since it has been so hot this past week we finally pulled out the kids short pajamas. They love them!

These are my favorite ones on Tenley. 

She is so cute! 

I just love to snuggle with my cute kids after their baths and when they are in their clean pj's. 

Mother's Day

I am so grateful to be a mother.

It is something I wanted to be for a very long time and I couldn't be more blessed with the wonderful, amazing children I have.

They make me want to be a better person and try harder to perfect my imperfections.

 It is amazing how much your children will copy the things they see you do. It makes me so sad when I see them do or say something that they have learned from my bad qualities. They are better than that and I want to see them reach their potential and be their best selves.

I love them with all of my heart and because of that I know how important it is for me to be my best self.

Today I feel more committed than ever to start working hard on turning my weaknesses into strength for the sake of my children.

This quote from Elder Dallin H. Oaks was shared in church today:

"the gifts of the spirit can lead us to God. They can shield us from the power of the adversary. They can compensate for our inadequacies and repair our imperfections."

I know that as I pray for help from the Lord and rely on the spirit I can turn my weaknesses into strengths and I can be the best Mom possible for my children. Nothing would make me happier than to be able to see my children live good lives, accomplish great goals, gain a strong testimony of the gospel, and spend their lives serving the Lord.

I'm so grateful for my wonderful, amazing, humble, sweet, giving, soft-spoken, forgiving, understanding,   loving Mother. I want so much to exemplify her amazing qualities in my own life. I admire her for all she has done and still does to sacrifice for her children. I love you mom!

And I'm also grateful for my Mother-in-law who raised such an amazing son.
I'm so grateful for my husband who made this such a great Mother's Day! He made me my favorite dinner, Cafe Rio, and a delicious chocolate bunt cake for dessert. I am so blessed.

P.S. I love this video:

Fresh Flowers

Today while we were at Costco, Kade ran up to me and gave me a hug and said "Happy early Mothers Day, Mom! Now go and pick out any flowers that you want!"

It was so sweet and it was fun to pick out some flowers.

I love having fresh flowers in the house and I especially love the bright colors of these. What a special early Mothers Day!

Sleepovers

Tonight our little friend Jaxson gets to sleepover. Kade and Tenley have had SO much fun playing with him today! I think Kade loves having a boy around and Tenley loves having someone her age around. It has been a blast!

Rainstorms

This afternoon we headed out to go for a walk to meet some friends at the park. Then we noticed some very unfriendly clouds! It was neat to see the storm rolling in and luckily we made it inside our house before it started to pour. The kids loved watching the rain!