Popsicles and Bike Rides

Yesterday was a crazy 96 degrees! We are so excited for warm weather and we squeezed in every fun summer activity we could, even though the warm weather is here to stay for a while. In the morning we went on a walk with our walking buddies and then played outside for a few minutes. 

Then we cooled down with a yummy popsicle! Parker ate a whole one by himself!

Later in the afternoon (unfortunately it was the hottest part of the day) we went on an adventurous bike ride with Chelsea and Peyton. It was hot but the boys had a lot of fun cruising around and we kept their heads and clothes saturated with cool water. We road over to Merrill Park in Eagle to checked out the Veteran Memorial Field. Then we road along the river for a while. It was so fun! Parker loves being outside and it was his first time riding on the bike and he really enjoyed it. He held on to his little handle bars and kicked his little feet while singing and blabbering the whole way!

Here we are in the field of flags.

Chelsea and Peyton. Chelsea was smart and wore her bathing suit unlike me who wore a black t-shirt in the insane heat!

Later that night we went out to my parent's pre school to help them build a garden for the kids to plant in. Parker loved playing with all the cool stuff Grandma has at her awesome preschool. After that Tyler, Parker and I went on another bike ride through out the neighborhood. It was about 8pm so it had cooled off nicely and we really enjoyed it! Here are some pictures of Parker on our 2nd ride.

So much fun in one day and there is plenty of summer fun to come!

Mother's Day

Just a few of the MANY reasons I love being a mom....

Parker's wide-open mouth, drooling all over my cheek, kisses. Those are the very best!

Parker following me around the house yelling "Mama!". When I turn around to answer he smiles and giggles and crawls as fast as he can to get to me.

Lately, when he gets tired at night he crawls over to me, lays his head in my lap and falls asleep.

The innocent little face that always accompanies his new favorite phrase.. "Uh Oh...".

He loves to dance with me... and he doesn't even mind my terrible singing.

I always have a little buddy to play with! I will NEVER be bored ever again :)

Like I said, I could write a novel about the joys of being a mom but I won't put you all through that. 

As for my Mother's Day, I am so spoiled! And I am pretty sure I gained 10 pounds in one weekend. Don't believe me? Just listen to what my weekend consisted of... food, food, and more delicious food!

Saturday all the girls from Tyler's family and my mom, sister and I all went out for lunch at Tucanos! It was so fun to have all of my favorite women around. I am truly blessed with great love and friendship from these amazing girls. A big thanks to all of them for all the kind things they do for me. A special thanks to my wonderful mom who has been my best friend and the perfect example of a loving mother... love you mom!

Here is a picture from the mommy luncheon.

That night, my wonderful husband took me to Olive Garden to celebrate. I couldn't resist my new favorite soup even though I was still in a Tucanos coma! But the food wasn't the best part. It was simply being with Tyler and Parker, feeding Parker soup and breadsticks and playing his favorite game of "let's see how many times mom will pick this up off the ground for me!" Little moments like that make being mom worthwhile! 

On the way home we gave Parker a breadstick to munch on. This is a great picture of the result. Don't worry, I would never let him attempt to swallow a piece that big!

On Sunday, Tyler and I spoke in Sacrament meeting. Wow, I'm sure Bishop was regretting asking me to speak about mothers and motherhood on my first Mother's Day! I cried through most of the talk but it was the easiest talk I've ever been assigned. Tyler gave an excellent talk about the term eternal families also meaning God-like families. He is so amazing!

After church more eating! We had Jambalaya with Tyler's family and then later that night we couldn't turn down my dad's famous Mother's Day dinner of steak and shrimp. So yeah, I'm spoiled and ten pounds heavier! Thanks to Parker for making me such a happy mother, thanks to my husband for all of his love and support, and thanks to our families for their love!

Happy Mother's Day!

Salt Lake

It's taken me forever but I finally decided to put studying off and blog a little bit. A couple weeks ago Tyler went to Salt Lake for a week of appraisal classes. On that Saturday, my family came down to pick up my sister from BYU, so Parker and I hitched a ride down with them to get her, pick up Tyler, and see some of my favorite girls from my BYU days. My dad got us all tickets to a Real Salt Lake soccer game which was so awesome. The trip was a ton of fun!!

We met up with my friends at Cafe Rio (my favorite restaurant ever!). It was so fun to see them!

My friend Laura and her hubby Jesse, and little baby Rachel (Laura's tiny baby bump)... Laura is pregnant and her due date is the same day as Parker's due date!

My friend Sara and her husband Aaron and their baby girl Alice. She is such a cutie! 

My cousin Hayley, we aren't actually cousins but we have adopted each other as such!

We also got to see Nick and Vanessa but I unfortunately forgot to bring my camera in when we stopped by their house.

Some pre soccer game festivities:

Tyler and Parker rocking out to the band that was playing.

Mom and Jake are so excited for the game!

Kristen, Dad and Tyler getting ready to show off their skills in the shoot out.

Enjoying half time

Brrr... it was cold but it didn't rain thankfully!

One of the many cool pictures Tyler got of the game. Real beat Revolution 6-0. It was an exciting game, even though Revolution is my favorite team :(

We had so much fun!