Lauren's Birthday

Ready to celebrate with a fruit flag as part of her birthday breakfast. We spent the rest of the day at a pool party at a friend's house.

Backyard Dinner

Inspired by our dinners at Girl's Camp, our famiy cooked tinfoil dinners and s'mores in the fire pit. We precooked everything when we were making our Monday night dinners, and made them up on Monday. On Tuesday we just heated them and ate them for dinner on Tuesday. They were delicious and it was great after we cooked and ate outside to come in the house Tuesday night - no mess in the kitchen!

Fourth-Year Hike

Lauren and her some of her friends as they prepare to depart camp for their fourth-year hike. Can you see the excitement in their eyes?

Birthday Weekend

For my 40th birthday, we had a fun-filled weekend of activities. Some of these picutres were taken in Lisa's backyard where we had lunch Saturday afternoon. Some are from our fondant cake decorating activity at Adrienne's house on Saturday morning. It was a fun weekend of family and it went way too fast!

The big 4-0

I am entering a new decade tomorrow, I'll be forty! I am excited about the day because my mom, and my sisters Jenny, Amy, and Christy are flying in to celebrate with me. Adrienne, Camille, Dorothy and Lisa are all working so hard to make this a great weekend reunion. What a party - I can't wait!

The thing I'm not looking forward to is everything you hear about how your body starts to decline in your forties and beyond. Other than the physical, when I look at what my life has held for me in the past forty years, I feel like I have learned so much and hopefully I'm at a place in my life where I can deal with problems that arise and also be of help to those around me. I hope that I am making a difference in the lives of my children and family and those around me.

Actually, I'm pretty excited to be forty. I have forty years of blessings to be thankful for. I am blessed with good health and I have a loving husband, kids who I genuinely enjoy being with, two loving parents in good health, and a large extended family that I can rely on and learn from. I have a testimony of Jesus Christ and why I'm here on earth that gives me purpose in this life and hope for the eternities.

I will enjoy this weekend with my sisters and family. What a treat, I can't think of a better way to celebrate! I just hope the next forty are filled with as much love and happiness as the first forty.

In honor of my forty years of living, I have chosen a new playlist, with songs from 1969 until 2009. Enjoy!

Spring means...

Planting a garden! We skipped doing a garden last year, and the year before we didn't have great results, but we are both excited adn optimistic for our garden this year. Tom and the boys rototilled and got the boxes in place. Tom and I chose out a few plant starts (Adrienne, my seeds didn't do as well as yours!)for watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes, zuccini and pumpkins. We mixed in composted manure and planted the plants. Now, we just have to water, weed and wait!

Mother's Day

Hooray for moms! What would we do without them? I am blessed with a loving, selfless mom who raised me in a home centered on the teachings of Jesus Christ and lots of fun and love. What an irreplacable gift that is in life! I also have an awesome mother-in-law who really has my back in the day-to-day events of raising my family.
This morning I was treated to a delicious breakfast in bed, made by my children. We all piled on the bed to watch a slide show that Lauren. She used picutres of our family from the years set to the song "Best Day" which is a daughter's tribute to her mom (listen to it on my playlist!). I got nice cards and thoughful gifts from my children and Tom is making dinner that we will enjoy with the Birds after church. It really is the best day!

I've had many family members and friends who have helped me and influenced me as a mom. Thank you for your love and examples. And Happy Mother's Day to you all.