Hallie turned four yesterday! I can’t believe how fast she is growing up and yet at the same time with all she can do I think she can’t be only 4! The attitude that girl has is similar to a 15 year old. She thinks she knows everything.

I went overboard for her party. What started out as a thought to just have the kids run around in the sprinkler turned into much more. Not saying that it was amazing or anything but darn pinterest for giving me too many ideas. We had our face painted then made unicorn horns with waffle cones, frosting and skittles. Next we colored horses with crayons, ate cake with pre scooped (and rolled in sprinkles) ice cream, played in the sprinkler, opened presents, and lastly we did a pinata. (We had made a pinata from scratch and Hallie thought it was the coolest thing. Every day we would add a layer and she would go over the directions informing me that she knew how to do everything.) Hopefully Hallie loved it and she felt special. To me that is the whole purpose of birthdays-to make someone feel special.

Happy 4th Birthday Hallie bug!

1. What is your favorite color? Pink                                                                                                                                                                                                         2. What is your favorite toy? Barbie unicorn                                                                                                                                                                                        3. What is your favorite fruit? Blueberries, Strawberries and Watermelon
4. What is your favorite tv show? Word girl (She watched this for the first time yesterday?)
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Peanut butter and honey sandwich with no bread on top. Open faced
6. What is your favorite outfit? Shake it shirt
7. What is your favorite game? Candyland
8. What is your favorite snack? Fruit loops. (she had this for her birthday breakfast and couldn’t get it off her mind)
9. What is your favorite animal?Horses
10. What is your favorite song? Ariel, part of your world. She asked me to sing a princess song the other day and this is the one I chose. She looked at me like I was a superstar and it has been her favorite song ever since. 🙂
11. What is your favorite book? Go girl go potty (I thought it was Pinkalicious)
12. Who is your best friend? Olivia Livingston and Alivia Fife
13. What is your favorite cereal? Fruit loops (Again they were on her mind.)
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Mow the lawn with mom or dad. (Kyle is the one who does that!)
15. What is your favorite drink? Almond Milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? Birthday
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? All my stuffed animals
18. What do you to eat for breakfast? Uncooked oatmeal with brown sugar.
19. What do you like to do every day? Play with friends.
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Ariel

I can’t believe I forgot to blog about the 4th of July. It is one of my favorite holidays. I love the history of our country and I love fireworks! I bought some cheap fireworks and introduced the kids to the loud screams and the vibrant colors. They were fascinated.  There are a lot of pictures because I couldn’t resist the look on their faces.:)

Maybe one day it will be dark outside when we do fireworks. 🙂

This past weekend our friends, the Caprio’s, invited us to go to Ocean City, Maryland with them. We woke up early, packed up and headed out by 7 am. Four hours later we arrived. There was a lot of traffic that we didn’t expect! Despite the long drive we were happy to be next to the ocean. We set up on the beach and dove right in. Ben took Hallie in and she cried every time a wave hit her. Kyle requested a turn after he saw his sister out there but quickly decided he didn’t like it either. The rest of the day we spent with just our feet in the waves and playing in the sand. The kids were so great! They love love love the beach. The highlight for me was when my friend Faith and I went down to swim and got washed up from the waves. Oh man I laughed so hard when Faith got beached that I didn’t see the wave heading straight for me and I got trashed. Now I have sand burns that look like a sunburn. lol We saw a storm rolling in that evening so we packed up and headed home at 7pm. We stopped and got some fresh fruit and vegetables at a farmers market and made it home just after 10p.m. That was one full day! I can’t wait to do it again!

Ocean City we will be back!

I had the awesome opportunity to run in the Color Me Rad Richmond 5k with my friend Kami, and her friend Courtney. We drove down the night before and stayed at Courtney’s house and made a girls weekend out of it. When we woke up in the morning it was raining and we were more than worried. If it was a normal race then it would suck but it would be doable. The color race however would be completely ruined. We prayed really hard and kept our hopes high. As we drove the hour from Courtney’s house to the race the sky cleared up and it ended up being the perfect weather for a July race. It was overcast and cooler but not raining. Humid yes, but hey we are in Virginia.

The race was awesome. It was really relaxed and fun. No nerves just people having fun. It wasn’t even timed. We got plastered with color as we ran the course. Note to self: Next time get covered in more blue and purple-it shows up much better in pictures.  (We were covered in pink and orange!) I can’t wait to do this race again!

You would not believe the clean up. lol

Kyle turned the big number 2 two weeks ago. He woke up to balloons all over his room and a mom singing Happy Birthday to him. Every time I asked if it was his birthday he would say “NO!” haha We continued the festivities that night by having a little party with just the four of us. We had pancakes and smoothies (two of his favorite foods) and we opened presents. I had a really hard time deciding what to get him for his birthday. He has so many toys already (thanks to my mom). I decided after walking Walmart up and down that CARS dishes and utensils would be the perfect fit. He got a bowl, 2 cups, a fork and a spoon, all from the movie “CARS” which he loves!!! Sounds lame I know but he has been obsessed with eating with them every day since.

Oh I love this kid. I am constantly attacking him with kisses. He is such a good little guy. He has his terrible two moments where he is emotional but then he will kiss me as we walk down the stairs or just come and hug me randomly. I love it! He still loves balls and is his dad’s dream come true when he will sit still and watch sports highlights. He is amazingly coordinated. Anyone who sees him with a ball is stunned at his skills. He can hold a ball in one hand and hit it with a bat in the other. He can drop kick a ball, catch a ball, throw a ball, and make baskets from 10 feet away. He is our superstar! He has been very slow talking but has started picking up everything in the last few weeks. It is so fun to hear him say things like, “shoes off!” when we come home. He still idolizes his sister and follows her everywhere. Sometimes he even goes so far as to dress up in a princess dress, but after a couple minutes he asks for the dress to be taken off. I don’t blame him. Princess attire was not designed with comfort in mind. lol He loves most food but will not eat veggies or potatoes (unless they are in french fry form-go figure).  He does love love love smoothies and so that is how we get veggies in him. He is still a little rut and the 24 month shorts drown him but I think that will have to be something he gets used to. 🙂 He has to buckle his top strap in his carseat by himself because he sees sister doing it. He loves playing outside and goes up and down our front steps which drives me nuts because it makes me so nervous. He has quite the personality and loves to be a BIG BOY.

Life is better with Kyle around!!

The last part of our trip was spent in St. George with Ben’s family. We rented a house with a pool and man was it heaven! It was great spending time relaxing with family.

Well that’s it for our Utah trip. It was truly an answer to our prayers. Great time with great people. We wish it could have lasted longer but it will have to suffice until next year. We are so grateful to have come from such great families.

The next stage of our trip was a Romrell reunion. We played at my parents house for awhile and then packed up and camped at Cherry Hill for a few days. It went by way too fast and we wished we had more time. The kids had the time of their life. These few days were better than disneyland ever could be for them.

Side note: Kyle fell on the steps of the motorhome the day we got to Cherry Hill and chipped his front tooth in half. Sad day! Good thing he’s still super cute and it’s only his baby teeth.

Friday night I was able to get together with some of my old roommates. We missed several of our gang and wish they could have made it but you know how life is. We were lucky to get five of us together. I love these girls so much. College was a true highlight of my life. I wouldn’t have changed a thing about it! College shaped me. I became ME. On top of missing these girls I miss how much I used to laugh. That night when we got talking we all admitted that we aren’t as funny as we used to be and we miss that part of us. We all used to be hilarious! It’s true.

Love you girls if you are reading this!! Thanks for making me laugh.

p.s. Lisa thanks for letting us chill at your house!

Last week we got back from one of the best vacations we have ever had. We have been saving up and also looking forward to this trip for over 18 months now. In the days leading up to the trip there were dinners that were intrupted by “Utah, Utah” chants. Yes that’s how excited we were!

We were able to spend 10 days in Utah. They were jam backed with seeing as much family as possible. Here was our iterary:

Thursday: Leave house at 4 am VA time, arrive in Utah 11 am UT time. Nap. BBQ with Ben’s cousins.

Friday: Hang out with my fam. Ben fix families cars and motorhome. Roommate reunion for me.

Saturday: Drive to Burley and spend day with Ben’s grandma and cousins.

Sunday: Still in Burley. Visit Ben’s other grandparents and uncle. Drive back to Utah.

Monday: Set up camp at Cherry Hill Water park with my family. Parents surprise anniversary party.

Tuesday: Swim, Swim, Swim! (Cherry Hill Water Park)

Wednesday: Still at Cherry Hill. Rock climb, batting cages etc. Pack up and leave. Go flying with my dad.

Thursday: Drive to St. George with Ben’s family. Swim!!

Friday: Swim, Swim, Swim. 5th Wedding Anniversary. Tuachan theatre to see show Aladdin.

Saturday: Swim, Swim, Swim. Iron Chef competition!

Sunday: Drive back to Salt Lake. Visit with my parents one last time.

Monday: Fly home.

(If you read all that I’m impressed. It was for journaling purposes.)

Now on to the exciting things. The pictures!!

IDAHO TRIP

After the tractor ride Hallie got a private tour of the dairy that Ben’s uncles own.

We loved our visit to Idaho. We wish we could have stayed longer. The great thing is that just by going to church we saw everyone in Ben’s extended family. They all go to the same church house! It was very convenient for us. 🙂

Those of you who know me well know that I love camping. I jump at any chance we get to go. Ben was more than accommodating when I asked if we could go over memorial weekend. We decided to head towards West Virginia and camp at the George Washington Forest. We lucked out and got a great spot. It was secluded and away from all the other campers. It was also near a lake with a little beach area. Talk about heaven-camping and the beach! We all had a great time and can’t wait to go camping again!

On Saturday we spent the day at the beach. The water was full of tadpoles which fascinated the kids. Hallie was able to catch several of them and trap them in the moat around her castle.

Oh camping we love you!