The BIG haircut!

For about 6 months we have been talking about cutting Haylee's SUPER LONG hair and donating it to a company that makes wigs for cancer patients. Well, today was the day! The plan was to take off between 8 and 10 inches of hair. Well we ended up taking of ELEVEN! And as it turns out we should've taken off 14 or 15 inches! Here are some pictures....

These first ones are from a week or so ago, I was just trying to capture her curls. Her hair curls up on the sides and the bottom usually after a shower add to that super humid weather and wallah -extra curls. :)

The length out of a braid

OH and a bonus picture from last weekend. I LOVE this picture of HD!!!!!!! It is near perfection which is almost impossible for my non-photogenic child. Look how handsome he is with his real face -okay all the pics I take are his real face but this one is his NATURAL face not some tiny smile. He just got done surfing think that has something to do with it? lol

Back to Haylee and her hair...

getting her cape on

Scary moment! The cut!

Right after the cut

all smiles

that is a standard 8.5 x 11 piece of paper it is end to end with a braid and a curl at the end!

Her words to me after this pic "Mom will you please go sit in the waiting area now so I can talk to Michelle by myself?"

Wow not even a teenager and anxious to get rid of mom.

Are you sure we cut off 11 inches? Look at all that hair!

Proud of her braid

Still my goldilocks after the haircut.

Happy June everybody!

I'm so thankful for.....

....these guys! I have been a mom for just over SIXTEEN years and I cannot begin to put into words how much it means to me that my Heavenly Father entrusted me three of his most precious children. From the time I was a little girl all I ever wanted to be was a momma. I am so grateful for the blessing, challenge, trials, and joy that come from this particular calling. :) I am so, so, so -words cannot express how thankful I am to have a husband that works hard so I can be at home with these awesome people.

I only have two years and a few months left of being an everyday mom to my oldest and I have no idea how I am going to deal with him going out into this big wide world. I take comfort in knowing what a good head he has on his shoulders, he has a strong testimony of the gospel, he has firm goals and priorities, and best of all he has a great sense of humor ~ so important to get through this crazy life. But how I will miss him when he goes. *sniff sniff*

Bud- you made me a mom. I was way to young and made so many mistakes and yet somehow you are an amazing young man not a day goes by that I am not proud of you. Love you D.
And this one...she is almost FIFTEEN! What the heck are they trying to do growing up all at once like this! My Sierra is strong and confident and just as beautiful inside as out. Sis -you were so tiny when you got here and I was still too young to be a momma. Thanks for being patient with me all this time as I learned to do it better. What would I do without your help? I would be lost!!! I love you my sweet girl.
And then there's my baby -she hates it when I call her that. :) This kid broke the mold I tell ya. I have never met a more precocious, chatty, sensitive, too smart for her own good girl in my whole life. I am so glad I get to have her home with me for 10 more years...maybe longer, since she is last I may never let her leave!!! :) Bean- you are a such a joy to our family. What a personality you have. You are a light in my life little girl and I love you to the moon and back!
Hope you all didn't mind me getting that out. I use this blog as my journal -which is sad since I don't write very much! But like I told my young women - don't worry about when or what you are not writing just write when you can! :)

I am so thankful to be a mom!!!

Happy Mother's day everyone!!!

Haylee's baptism

Wow. I really can't say enough about this amazing day. Haylee turned 8 in November but we waited until now to baptize her because we were waiting for HD to turn 16 and be ordained a priest so he could be the one to perform the baptism. HD has been waiting for this moment ever since he realized he would be old enough to baptize her. So sweet. It was such an emotional time for us all. There were lots of smiles and tears. The tears started when Sierra gave a talk on baptism and cried when she told Haylee how proud she was of her, I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. Then of course during the actual baptism part. After HD baptized her he gave her a hug and kissed her on the head -it was so touching to see how much they love each other- I cried like a baby. Then my mom gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and she made everyone cry again when she talked about how grateful she was for our military family that is always there to support us. Goodness what a day! There was so much happiness and peace and I am so grateful for the spirit that was there that day. It really was amazing. Here are our pictures....

Haylee and my dad and mom

Haylee and smiley Grandpa

Haylee and the best big brother ever, I am so grateful for his worthiness to hold the priesthood.

My three truly amazing kiddos.

D and sis all ready to go.

Right after she was baptized. She was SO HAPPY. :)

us.

Us again, not the greatest backdrop for a photo but hey it's where we got us all together. :)

Haylee and Uncle Val, he came all the way from Idaho to confirm her.

A new butterfly shirt! She was hilarious, she told me to take this pic so she could pose.

Having a housefull of company can make you nuts! lol

game night

Saying goodbye at the airport. :(

My mom stayed an extra few days since I was going to have surgery. We made the most of the day before and went to Five Guys for lunch. I have never eaten there before and heard it was the In N' Out of the east coast. It was pretty dang close! Now the story of the potato bag. At the bottom right above where it says net wt. 50 lbs. it says Rigby, Idaho -that is where my mom grew up and where my grandparents have lived for the last 55 years! It is a tiny town of about 2,000 people. And that Rick Miles guy whose name is on the bag was my Aunt ShaRee's old boyfriend. We knew all this information before we went there but it was still very cool to see it in person! :) woo hoo for Idaho potatoes.

And now to finish the post!

We are so grateful for our wonderful family that came from near and far to be a part of Haylee's very special day. It meant so much to us to have them there.

family comes to town

The weekend of Haylee's baptism we had some family come to town. My mom, sister, my Aunt ShaRee, Uncle Val, and my dad. My dad didn't come until Friday evening, everyone else got here Thursday afternoon so we spent Friday in DC at a couple of museums. It was FREEZING that day but we still had a fun time.

The fun started on the metro.

Sierra and Krissie

We stopped at the Museum of Natural History first. Haylee LOVES butterflies.

And this gives you a look at how long her hair is.

Pretty girls.

The peeps. Uncle Val, Aunt ShaRee, Sierra, Krissie, Haylee and Grandma

In front of a wooly mammoth.

My mom came up with the caption for this photo:

the dinosaurs among some older ones of their kind -lol

An albino squirrel! It was so cool! We decided he was from Narnia.

This is in the air and space museum, a cool thermal camera

Mom is hanging on! Yikes!

Haylee is going for a crazy ride!

And while we were at the museum one of my bff's Michelle was giving birth to this little beauty.

Avery Paige was born 4 days late!

I was so excited to meet her as SOON as we walked in the door from being in DC. Joe and I raced to the hospital to meet her! So excited to be an auntie again!

We are so blessed to have such great family and friends!!!!

Stuff in February...

Just a few random pics for this post:

Sierra looking fab at the Bishop's storehouse

HD turning 16, this is his genuine smile -he can't do it on command you just have to catch it! :)

We are big on the Olympics at our house. Haylee especially so I made her these "olympic pancakes" She loved it! I think we have a new tradition in our house.

HD and his date from the Priest/Laurel dinner dance -(a dance at church for 16-18 year olds) he didn't ask her they assign dates to give you an opportunity to meet new people. He really liked her though and asked her to the "mormon prom" that is being held next weekend. :)

That is my random stuff for February. :)

On their own...

I know I haven't posted in forever and sorry this post isn't coming with pictures but I have a cute story to tell well probably more than one and I really want to get them down.

But to catch up a bit first:

December: Christmas, presents, giving, recieving, lots of snow (way more than we usually get) and all that jazz of the holidays

January: warmed up a little, nothing too exciting

February: HD turned 16 and was ordained a priest, EPIC SNOWSTORM, Haylee's baptism. It was AMAZING! One of the times I have felt the Spirit the strongest in my entire life. HD did a great job baptizing her...a whole post by itself on that soon.

March: I had my gall bladder removed a week ago and OUCH! I am still very sore. I was really hoping to just bounce right back.

Anyway, my on their own stories:

Sierra spoke in church a few weeks ago. Her topic was choice and accountability. She did the whole talk herself and it was the first time I didn't look it over "just to check" she did a great job and had the congregation laughing at her candid teenager speak: "So ya know, just don't choose the wrong." lol she did such a great job.

HD has the craziest schedule of anyone I know and I know some pretty busy people he just made the baseball team playing shortstop and here is his daily schedule right now:

5:08am wake up for seminary

5:30am seminary begins

6:30-7:30am try to take a "nap" before school or finish homework from the night before

8:00 catch the bus

9:05-3:40 school -work REALLY HARD to maintain a 3.9 GPA

4:00-4:45 study hall

5:00-7:00/7:15 - baseball practice

7:30/7:45: get home

8:00 eat dinner

8:30 shower

9:00 do homework until 10 or 10:30

10:30 go to sleep for 6 and a half hours to do it OVER AGAIN THE NEXT DAY!

--there is no way on this earth I could keep up with the schedule he does. Well Monday night he came home and was exhausted and so frustrated. He had a ton of homework and hadn't slept well the night before. He could barely keep his eyes open so at 10 he called it a day and set his alarm for FOUR O'CLOCK AM to finish his homework before seminary. He was having a really hard time and I felt so bad for him. I re-set his alarm to 5:30 and let him skip seminary so he could get some much needed sleep. All throughout the day Tuesday I worried about him and how tired he was. I thought to myself 'I should have told him to pray' that is the best thing you can do when you need help. I didn't see him until about 9:00 Tuesday evening since Sierra and I were at youth activity at church. I worried as I drove home about how tired/frustrated he had been the night before. When I walked in I went and found him, he was like a new kid! He seemed energized, refreshed, and so positive. I said "you seem like you are doing great, I was worried about you all day. Why the change tonight?" his response "I said a prayer" ahhhh how I love those moments when I know that they are just amazing; these children of mine. The hard work sometimes pays off! Yay!

I know I have been a slacker poster and I will try to get some pictures on here soon. And details of Haylee's baptism. It was AMAZING!

Haylee funny...

Our lesson in young womens on Sunday was making good use of our time. Since I haven't updated this blog in over a month I guess I am not making very good use of mine! One of the things we told the girls was to take at least 10 minutes per day to write in your journal. I use this blog as mine and I am not very good a writing in it so a quick Haylee funny before I get back to the chaos of the day...

A couple of weeks ago I was cleaning out the van and I had the back open I left it open to come in the house and get my purse -I had to take Haylee somehwere- and she went out and got in the van while I was in the house when I went out to the van she had a sneaky smile on her face and said "uh, the doors were locked in the van so I had to climb in the back." I told her I was pretty sure they weren't locked and she giggled and said "OK, they weren't I just wanted to climb in that way." I told her I wasn't mad that climbing in the back wasn't a big deal. I then proceeded to tell her that even though it was about somthing small she still shouldn't lie to me and that I would be more mad in the future if she lied and didn't just tell the truth right off the bat. She thought for a split second and then said "well, what's the big deal? I am just gonna get baptized in a couple of months." After I was done laughing I told her I was glad she got the concept of baptism but that that wasn't really how it worked - the time before baptism isn't a free pass to do whatever you like while you wait to be washed clean. She is a crack up that girl....

Funny #2 she said the prayer at Thanksgiving dinner at Joe's parents house, her 93 year old great grandma was there with us and somewhere in Haylee's prayer she said this "and please bless great grandma in her old age and that she will live at least a couple more *pause* years..." I was so relieved when she said years I was worried she was going to say a couple more hours so she could eat dinner or somthing like that...with Haylee you never know! :)

Funny #3 on our last night Haylee, Sierra, and I stayed up an extra hour or so with Joe's mom just having some fun girl visiting time and Haylee was sitting on grandma's lap and said "hey grandma, you have a beard!" when Joe's mom laughed and pointed out we all have some hair on our face Haylee said "well, you should shave" out of the mouths of babes I suppose! lol

We have been doing great. We spent Thanksgiving in Missouri and had an amazing visit with Joe's parents and his oldest sister and her family. The kids had so much fun. HD's highlight was driving Joe's old truck that he drove in high school. He was so excited! Sierra got to drive too but I think she better wait another year and a half before she drives again. ha ha ha...she was a little quick on the brake! Haylee got to drive grandpas tractor and had a great time helping feed the cows and playing with the dogs. It was a fun trip to the farm.

Hope you are all enjoying Christmas, we are loving the spirit of the holiday and getting all ready for the big day. :D
Merry Christmas to you all!