My Mother's Day

I have to step back a bit and back track to Mother's Day.   This is just too darn great not to document!!   We were in Utah with my mom celebrating Mother's Day and gearing up for Aunt Jill's wedding.  I was happy to be with my mom but a little sad that we weren't with Jeff.  He was flying home from Virginia that day.   The girls made sure I had gift to open and they were both VERY excited about them and EXTREMELY pleased with what they created.  They took very good care of their gifts, making sure they were wrapped nicely and packed neatly in their suitcases.  I have to say, by far these  are the best gifts I have received from my girls!!

Maddie made a recipe for me and she hit the nail on the head.  3 tablespoons fashion?  That's all I get?  What's wrong with my fashion?  You don't like me in my PJ's as much as I am?  I love them.  They are very comfortable!!  I'll work on that and see if I can't at least get myself up to 1/2 cup fashion!!  Also, 10 gallons of sweetness and hard work!!  Yep I am all sweetness and totally hard working :)  I have to say I appreciate all the humor she gave me credit for.  I do think I am seriously funny!!

Then we move on to little Miss Lauren.  She knows me very well!!  Her book will make you chuckle right out loud!!  In fact, it brought tears to my eyes and warmness to my heart!

Yes, the best care a mother can give!

 This one is a stretch on the drawing.  I can't draw worth a darn but I've got mad coloring skills and it's true.....I will smuggle my kids with hugs and kisses until they can out run me!

Very true!!  We love cooking together and getting our toes done.  Is there anything better than girl time with your daughters?  Lauren is after my heart!!  She LOVES cleaning and organizing...just like me!

This is true.  I love sleeping and it's the thing I've missed most now that I am a mom.  I can't remember the last time I was able to take a LOOOOONG nap.  If only I had more time to myself!!  As for Words with Friends...it's become a family game.  My kids love to help me play and we've learned so many words.  Did you know qat, whap, jeon, yutz, phi, and qis are real words.    

 Yes!!  I miss Virginia terribly!!  It was a wonderful time in my life and if I could rewind the clock and do it all over again if I would do it in a heartbeat.  Life was so simple then!!  I am glad Lauren was born in Virginia.  I had the best Dr. and the best hospital stay ever.  I seriously felt like I was on vacation.  All I did during my stay was love on my new little girl and take tons of pictures.  Mom, Maddie, Jeff and a few close friends were my only visitors and life was good!!  

 Whew....cleaning the house can be very tiring.  I would lay on the couch and watch the maid do all the work!  Maybe the maid would even bring me a nice drink and some chocolate to eat :)

BJ's Rocks!!  We love their food

 Yes, I love having a big bowl of cereal in the morning!!  I won't share my chocolate but I will share my Cheerios.  Good thing we don't by the new chocolate Cheerios.  I don't know what I would do!! 

Thanks girls!!  These gifts are priceless treasures to me!!

Time to go....

The wedding and all the festivities were over and so it was time to go.  We decided that we wanted to take our time getting home so we drove over half way home the first day.  That meant we got to spend a night in Vegas.  The kids were excited and so was I.....for about 10 seconds and then I remembered why Vegas is called the city of sin.   We wanted to eat at the Rainforest Cafe...which was a total disappointment, but that is a rant for another post....so we made reservations for that night.  We had to walk down the Strip from our hotel to the restaurant and about 5 steps onto the strip and I had my girls eyes covered.  Sin and creepy people were everywhere!!  Parker was riding on Jeff's shoulders and wanted to know why "that lady was dancing on the pool table in her swimsuit?"  Parker was immediately taken off Jeff's shoulders.  We made it quickly to the restaurant where we were seated at a table in the gift shop.  REALLY?  Why couldn't we get one of the cool tables near the giant waterfall and all the rainforest animals?  Instead we spent all of dinner telling our kids that they couldn't have the overpriced souvenirs from the gift shop.  Lesson learned....Rainforest Cafe is not that great!!

After dinner we made a stop at the M&M factory.

It was awesome and the kids had a great time.

Mr. Cool Blue

 Fashionista Mrs. Green

 Happy Go Lucky Mr. Yellow

 Confident Mr. Red

This is the ONLY M&M Parker would stand next to

 LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Red's slogan!!

 Then next day we got up early and headed home

2,369 miles driven.  It was a great trip!

For Time & All Eternity

Finally, the prep work was all finished, we were done getting beautified, and it was time for the wedding.  We dropped our kids off at my brother and sister-in-laws house to play (thanks Gita) with their cousins while Jeff and I went to the ceremony.  I had butterflies in my stomach because I was so excited about returning to the Salt Lake Temple where Jeff and I were also sealed.  The ceremony was beautiful and the sealer spoke great words of wisdom.  I absolutely loved sitting next to Jeff and holding tightly to his hand while witnessing the union of this perfectly matched couple.  

 Mr. and Mrs. Tyler Gibbons

 This photo is full of emotion for me.

  Jeff has been a father figure to Jill for many

years.  It won't be long and that will

be one of our girls Jeff is hugging

 The whole gang

 Jill, Farrell, & Tyler

Tyler's side of the family

Hanging with my sweetie and no kids :)

Gosh, isn't he so handsome!?  Lucky me!

 The newlyweds were hungry so Jeff and I went

on a food run for them.  Seriously, this should

be an add for McDonalds & Chick-fil-A

 It was time to head back to get the kids

& change into wedding clothes.  Love

this picture of the girls.  Holding on to each

other while admiring themselves in the mirror

 Maddie, Jill and Lauren

 My favorite little boy!

Getting a picture of all the nieces

and nephews was tough

 The entire Helm-Allred Family

We've been trying for YEARS to get a family

picture of everyone.  Thanks for getting married

Jill and Tyler so we could finally get our photo!

The siblings 

Kevin, Eric, Amber, Jill, Jeff, Kurt

 Jill and her brothers

Love the socks!

Tyler is a little out numbered

 Sisters-in-law

Amy, Jill, Laura, Sam

 Another picture full of emotion....

Jeff will be dancing all to soon with our

little brides

Sorry, you may not dance with  my dad!

It's my turn :)

 Nice hands...I like your watch...

Sorry we can't see Lauren's face

 The day was perfect!!  I am so happy for Jill

and Tyler.   They are an amazing couple.  I 

really enjoyed watching them on their journey

from dating to marriage.  There were so many

parallels between them & the journey Jeff and I

took so  many years ago.  It was fun to walk

that road again in different shoes and remember.

Thanks for giving me that opportunity. 

I love you guys!

...and they lived happily every after!

Week full of fun!

We got up at 3:00 a.m. so we could get an early start on our trip to Utah for Aunt Jill's wedding.  

Maddie was assigned from her teachers at school to do an "Expert Report".  She was to become

an "expert" on something and she chose to report about Utah.  She made a log so she could

record mileage, gas, money, time, stops, etc. on our trip.  We were on vacation but the girls still had

WAY TOO MUCH homework to do while we were gone.  The expert report was a fun thing to do!!

Bright eyed at 3:00 a.m. with our travel log.

About 30 minutes into our travels Parker started to 

ask "How many more minutes?"  I swear that kid

must have asked us a million times "how many more

minutes?"  He even asked us in his sleep.  He was

annoying yet hilarious all at the same time.

 Gas stop #1....

Many more miles to go...sigh

The trip went well - my kids and my

dad did a great job.  Perfect road trip!

 We were in Utah on Mother's Day. 

Here's some of the kids with Grandma.

It was also a bright and early morning.

After Mother's Day dinner we played

croquet in the backyard.  Parker 

refers to it as broquet.

 My kids only wear bandannas on their

heads in Utah.  Go figure!?

Monday night we did smores in 

Grandma Farrell's backyard

Aunt Jill is helping Maddie 

roast the perfect marshmellow

 Farrell and the future son in law, Tyler

 Farrell, Lauren, and Jeff

Lauren is getting all her supplies 

ready to roast

 Parker  and Maddie had more than

enough sugar

 Tuesday afternoon we swam in Dixie's Pool

This girl is always striking a pose

 Parker loves to spit water!

 Tuesday evening was Endowments at the

Bountiful temple followed by dinner at

the Mandrin.  Thanks to my parents for

watching my kids.  I love dates with Jeff!

Especially temple dates with my mate!

Wednesday was pedicure day for all the girls.

The boys went to the driving range to hit

a bucket of balls.  Everyone was happy!

Poor Jill, can't even relax while getting her toes done.

She was on the phone WORKING!  I guess you 

gotta do what you gotta do so you can get married

and be on a honeymoon for a week :)

 The sisters in law - Sam and Laura and me....

oh wait, I am behind the camera

 The nieces also got to go.

Lauren, Anonya, Maddie

 Wednesday night was the wedding dinner

at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

Yea, another date with Jeff.  Thanks

again parents for watching my children.

This is a GREAT vacation!

Thursday morning was wedding day.  Super

Aunt Jill rented out the hair salon and all the

girls got prettied up.  It was so much fun!!

Lauren before

 During

 After

Look at those curls!

 Now it's Maddie's turn

 Loving the curls again!

 My cute bunch with the bride...so pretty!

 Laura, Jill, Sam

 .....the nieces.

Stay tuned for the wedding...

A day to remember!!