Sweet Siblings

How sweet are my little ones?! Even though they fight, they love each other so much. Kaston looks up to Ireland very much and he has a best friend in Spencer. The girls have a wonderful connection, they enjoy dressing up and putting on make up and occasionally ganging up on their little brother and dressing him up too :)

I tell them that they are so lucky to have each other and that they will always have someone to be there for them. They don't quite get it yet, but they will someday. My sister is only 15, but she is one of my very best friends, I am very lucky to have her in my life!!

Happy 11th Anniversary to Us!!

Today (July 25th) is our 11th anniversary! I can't believe that so much time has passed by so quickly. It feels like it was just yesterday that we said "I do" and yet I feel like I have known Rich my whole life. We are truly blessed to have each other and too have created a family that we are so proud of. I have to give ourselves a pat on the back, in this day and age marriages don't always last and we are still going strong. Not to say that is has always been easy, but if we have made it through all of our trials as well as we have, then I think that the rest will be no problem at all.

In honor of our eleven years together, here is a list of 11 things that we love about each other:
caution....if you don't like mushy stuff then grab your barf bag now =)

Rich says "The thing I love about Kaysee is............"
1. Her spontaneity
2. She is easy going and care free
3. She is very supportive of anything I've ever wanted to do.
4. I think her tattoo's are cool, it shows that she is confident to make a decision that will last forever.
5. She encourages me to always be successful
6. She is adventurous and loves the out doors.(She floats the Green river with me )
7. I have become cultured because of her, she got me into liking plays, we went and saw Wicked and The Lion King on Broadway in NYC.
8. I love that she is so playful and likes to tease and joke around
9. I love all of her different hair styles
10. I love that she is the mother of my children
11. I love the fact that she is my soul mate and that I know that I could not live without her. =)

Kaysee says "The thing I love about Rich is........"
1. He is a great cook and an even better baker. His manicotti and homemade hot fudge pudding cake is to die for!!
2. His sarcastic humor
3. He "lets" me drive his truck and is proud of me that I am able too. (it's an F350, crew cab, long bed-big truck).
4. I love that he is so handy- I say he is a blue collared worker hiding behind a white collared job.
5. He loves to travel and see and do new things
6. That he thinks he can't dance, but I know that he really can, I've caught him showing his rhythm every now and then. :)
7. When he sings to our kids, the way they look at him is priceless.
8. He is a risk taker, we have never been bored with all of his new adventures.
9. His crooked little toe that all of our kids have inherited
10. He can still make me feel like a young girl with a crush, all twitter-pated and stuff.
11. That I know that he will love me unconditionally, always and forever, No Matter What!!

My grandma Audrey once told me that the best present that you could ever give your children is two parents who love each other more than anything. I believe that with all of my heart!!
*Grandma's always give the best advice :)

P.S. "Have I told you lately" by Rod Stewart was the very first song we ever danced to and it was at our wedding- in case you were wondering why it was on my playlist.

MY 4's

Meagan tagged me with this, so here it is:

1) Four places that I go to over and over: Walmart, The Jennings pool, the cheap cinemark, bed!
2) Four of my favorite places to eat: Taco Bueno, Saltgrass, Jalapeno Tree, Olive Garden
3) Four places I would rather be right now: Anywhere with Mountains, Flaming Gorge, Disneyland, or New York City.
4) Four TV shows I watch: For the summer (different than what I watch during the TV season)-Big Brother, So You Think You Can Dance, Baby Borrowers & Jon & Kate plus 8!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOMMY!!

My Moms birthday is on Sunday, and I am way bummed that I won't get to be with her to give her a big hug and a kiss. This is an important birthday for her- it is the 25th anniversary of her being 25. =)

I am so blessed to be her daughter, I have seen and done so much thanks to her. I can remember when I was a little girl, we would be in the car I would be singing "Another one bites the dust" (great song) and we would be coming up to a light that was green so we would hold hands to make sure that it wouldn't turn red. Or, if she would have to hit the brakes she would put her arm in front of me to protect me, she actually still does it every now and then. :)

It's all those little moments that make my mom so wonderful, and now to see her as a grandma- she is amazing and my kids adore her. They love and miss their "Gramma Lori" so much.

We are all very lucky to have her in our lives, she is an amazing mom, grandma, daughter, and her friends better hang on to her, they will never find anyone more loyal and fun.

Happy Birthday Mom! Thanks for all that you do and for just being you!!

We love you !! Have fun in Florida (thank you Kristie)

I think that these are so fun- it's kind of cool that a little stick figure can say so much about a person.
Rich loves to get out in nature, they did'nt have one holding a fishing pole, so golf is the next best thing. Of course I'm the Queen =)
Ireland is a self proclaimed girly tom-boy. She loves soccer, riding skateboards, rollerblades, and bikes. She has no problem getting mud on her hands, and she can keep up with the boys any day, but when the time calls for it, she can be super girly too.
Spencer looked at me at soccer practice (I was her and Kaston's coach) and said "Mom, you know I am a dancer!", so she won't be playing soccer this Fall, she will be in ballet. She will make a great cheerleader from the sides for her brother and sisters' soccer teams.
Kaston is all boy (with exception to the high pitched whine)- he wants to play every sport there is. He said that when he grows up he wants to be an astronaut fire police man- what ever that is.
He adds such a fun element to our family.
They did'nt have a stick figure for a dog or else I would have added our Malti-poo, Pepper Jack. He goes by P.J.- we got him at trade days (aka swap meet) for $27- an awesome deal for an awesome (most of the time) dog.

JONAS BROTHERS ROCK! at least that's what my kids say :)

So we did it, we went to a Jonas Brothers concert. It was Spencer and Kaston's first concert, they had a blast, as did Ireland. We went with our friends Debbie and Delaney.

It was at a place where they have general admission, we were in the "cheap zone" way up on a grassy hill with every other tween in Dallas, we could hardly see them (thank goodness for jumbo-trons) but the kids had fun dancing around and singing along while wearing the t-shirt that they each picked out. Spencer just loves Joe so she watched him with the binoculars the whole night, kind of scary, she is only 5.

So, even though we were stuck in traffic for nearly 2 hours before the concert, the crowds being out of control, and the twins asking "Mom, next time can we please be on the front row?", we all had a bunch of fun. I think that they will remember this for a very long time, and isn't that what life is all about, creating memories that last??....well, that's what we did, thanks to the Jonas Brothers :)

4th of July Fun!!

Happy Birthday America!

We had a great 4th of July this year. We went to a parade, a family get together, then to the McKinney Red, White & Boom celebration. They had hot air balloons, tons of blow up slides and bounce houses, and the entertainment was Charlie Robison ( I've never heard of him, but he's good if you like country music) and Josh Gracin. Then we watched a fabulous firework show. The best part about it, was that it was all free. :0)

The kids had a blast and we had fun hanging out with friends and family and celebrating our wonderful country.

The picture below:
The next generation of Utah/Texas friends
Spencer, Kaston, Ireland, Grady & Hudson

We went to an Easter egg hunt with the Evans family this year.
My kids had so much fun, they said that now we have to do it every
year. It would be way cool if we were able to.

Friends are the family you get to choose :)

So the one thing that is really bad about moving to a new place is leaving your loved ones behind.

It is easy to take for granted your family and friends when you live close to them, it is when you leave that you realize how much you need them. Even though you may not have seen each other very often when you were just a few minutes away, it was the comfort of knowing that you could if you needed or wanted to.

Now that we live in Texas, I so miss the friendships that were made in Utah. It was so nice to hang out with someone who knew everything about me and my family (and still loved me anyways), there isn't wasted time with small talk, only great conversation, sometimes about nothing, other times about the most serious stuff going on in our lives. It is hard to open up to new people and it is funny how when you start explaining your life and your past to someone new, you start to realize just how crazy your life really is.

I know that my Utah friends will always be a part of my life, I just never imagined not being able to hang out whenever we wanted. I guess now it is about the quality of time spent together, not the quanity.

P.S. Meag you have helped me get through this move in more ways than you know- Just our everyday random conversations have helped make me feel that you are not so far away. Thank goodness for phones and computers!! :)

So here is a fun, quick little get to know ya sort of thing, I copied it from Meagan but I put my own answers of course. Who knows what sort of random-ness you will get from this blog. I just have to find ways to keep things interesting.

A-Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friend: Meagan Evans
C-Cake or Pie: Chocolate cake & Lemon cake- yum!
D-Day: Today is Wednesday @ 12:30am
E- Essential Item: tweezers
F-Favorite Color: Primary colors
G-Gummi Bears or Worms: both- I love the red and clear ones!
H-Home town: McKinney, Texas
I- Indulgences: lofthouse cookies (the stores just got them down here)
J- January or July?: July- as long as I am in a house or a pool- so hot in Texas!!
K-Kids: 5 if you include my husband and my dog
L-Life is incomplete without: The special little moments with my babies
M- Marriage Date: July 25, 1997 (we got married just two months after our very first date)
N-Number of Siblings: 1 awesome little sister, Jensen -and a half sister in Tacoma, WA
O- Oranges or Apples: Apples- especially with caramel on them :)
P- Phobias or Fears: earwigs and car crashes
Q- Quote: "I have not failed, I have simply found ten thousand ways that won't work" Thomas Edison
R- Reason To Smile: Friends and family
S- Season: Fall in Utah, there is no such thing in Texas
T- Tigger or Pooh- I love them both.
U- Unknown fact about me: I love the discovery channel (all of them)
V- Very Favorite Store: Disney Store
W- Worst Habit: procrastination
X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds are way cooler
Y-Your favorite food: Mexican
Z: Zodiac Sign: Virgo