Remembering

 Remembering the sacrifices so many make for our freedom.

Remembering loved ones who are no longer near.

Remembering how blessed we are truly are.

Remembering is good.

 Emily gets credit for finding recipes and making a delicious meal. 

 No one can get Owen to belly laugh quite like his sister can :)

We welcome summer and look forward to 

adventures and many new memories.

Happy Summer Everyone!!

Eclipse

Blessed With Beauty

I had a cute friend invite me to a little get-away to her cabin up at Bear Lake this week.

Three of us spent two days stitching our hearts out...chatting and laughing and eating!

It was a heavenly, rejuvenating and very productive two days.

I was up early enough Wednesday morning to watch a beautiful sunset.

Magical.

For Mother's day the kids chipped in on gift that melted my heart.
Last year a sad thing happened when a spring snow storm took
down three of our big trees in the back yard... 

you can see photos here.   

 Today was the day we got to go pick out the tree.  

A Royal Red Norway Maple was what we brought home.  

She is beautiful!  What a pretty contrast against all the green in our yard.

The sweet presentation on Mother's Day most definitely needs to be documented.
Camber printed off this beautiful prose that Janell had written and Mark read it to us.  
I really think it is the most beautiful thing I have ever read.
Janell is a gifted writer and a beautiful daughter.
We say this a lot....but we are certainly blessed to
overflowing with the most amazing family!
We love every one of them!
Thank you for such a sweet gift! xo

Maple

I recall a morning in no particular memory
yet resides within every lovely place of my mind,
where maple syrup is drizzled on golden breakfasts,
 warm with a mother's sweet enthusiasm.
Where outside beneath the shade of a maple tree,
kind hands light lively imaginations

as flattened wings of papery tree tissue
spun between fingertips and dropped down
to bright eyes looking on in wonderment,
watching small flurries of tiny seeded helicopters
fall to the cool grass above the maple's thick roots.

Leading us through exciting adventures,
supporting us through discouraging trials;
it was under your motherly branches
we sought safety and comfort,
learning to stretch our own dense roots down deeply,
to hold us strong for when weather becomes rough.

Encouraging us to stretch our branches out and up,
guiding us always towards the light,
it was you who challenged us to grow, to know
we could go further than thought possible;
to embrace the change of seasons,
for it brings colorful beauty and a chance to grow.

Can't wait to watch this tree reach for the sky, grow strong and watch over our family.

Mother's Day Picnic

How would we live such an abundant, fulfilling, gratifying life without our amazing friend, google? It would be much more complicated!  :D We did a google search for beautiful parks in Ogden, UT area and the map brought up this beautiful area thick with trees and a pond - Beus Pond Park.  Bingo!  Our little part of the family met up with Jake & Lindsey's little part of the family and we spent a beautiful evening at the park. (thinking of all the other little parts of our family who are far away)

Great trees to climb and water to throw sticks into...a pretty duck 

pond full of beautiful birds...a playground that was just right 

and lots of grass to run around on. 

We had our favorite Strawberry Salad, Queso, Guacamole, fresh fruit and in honor
of Mark's mom, Lemon Rolls! Marie makes the most amazingly, 

tender, sweet Orange Rolls.  I didn't have an orange on hand 

but the lemon was a great substitute.

For dessert we enjoyed homemade Vanilla Pudding and Camber's crispy-chewy Oatmeal Cookies.
 Growing up it was very common to have a bowl of jello or pudding for dessert.
My cute mom would make the best homemade puddings! 
It was extra special when we got bananas and  whipped cream on top!
Oh the memories.
We sure love our mom's and all they have 

taught and shared with us over the years. 
What a gift.

 The evening was just delightful.

 Papa showed us how to make little whistles out of dandelion stems.  Molly was fascinated!

 Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful women in our lives!  

You sure make us feel loved and happy!

One more thing...I was just bitten by the instagram bug.

awesome.

Some Catching Up

April was a whirlwind of family activity.  A sweet Easter Sunday remembering our Savior.  An nontraditional but very tasty Roast Beef Dinner :) We celebrated some special birthdays and got to have all of our grandchildren together for 5 days! What a treat. Mark's mom turned 75 and so we gathered as many local family members as we could to celebrate with her in Salt Lake.  It was a sweet occasion and we sure love her.  We celebrated Davis' 22nd birthday with hot fudge brownie sundaes.  We love our boy.  Janell made a surprise visit down for a long weekend and got to meet her youngest nephew, Owen James and teach Emily how to play to Ukelele.  We enjoyed her visit so very, very much. Just a day after she had to leave we met Brady and Danielle at the SLC airport to pick up Liam and Elsie while they flew on to San Diego for a convention and much needed anniversary trip together. It was so great to hug and kiss all of our children and grand kiddos. Our family means everything to us.

Happy Birthday Grandma Marie!  

You are such a grand lady xo

Hoping for a bright year for you, Davis.  Wishing you much success and strength in California.

You are doing hard things and we are proud of you. Much, much love! 

 We had sooo much FUN with you, Aunt Janell!

xoxo

 It's a little crazy how quickly Emily picked up the Uke!  

It's the sweetest thing to hear her strum and sing :)

Janell's visit was not near long enough for any of us!

quick reunion at the security gate 

tight hugs, kisses and see you soon!

 In the ups and downs in this crazy journey of life, 

we have learned that parenting and grand parenting 

is not for the faint of heart or sissies!  

We also know that we never have to look far 

to see the abundance of blessings we have.

Loved this comment from Liam that his parents sent us!

Liam's update of his trip there: "Mom, Nana took great care of us. She's a great, great babysitter, and she knows everything about kids. Papa knows lots about kids too, but the big thing is he knows most about helping people, like right before they die, or sick, or babies. Or using that radio TV thing in his office to tell when somebody has a big tummy, if there's a baby inside. And if there's a head and some legs and a body, then it's a baby. But if not, then they've just been eating too much junk. But sometimes, you've just got to tell people the truth."