Emma's Holy Ghost
TJ's Jesus with a headband :)
Jared was nice enough to let the kids and I come with him to the northwest on his business trip a couple of weeks ago. It was a TON of driving but the kids did amazing!!! We got to spend some time in Washington with Jared's brother and his family for a couple of days and we were so glad. It was fun to see Clif and Jenn and the kids couldn't have been happier to be there. Here are a few pictures from the trip.
We went to a Mariners game one night, only we got stuck in traffic and didn't get there until the 6th inning. It was ok though because I think that is all the kids could handle. It was still fun.
Emma, TJ and Ben on the train. As I was looking through my pictures I noticed Ben has the same kindof cool-kid look on his face in all of them. He seems so much older than he really is, he is a funny kid.
The boys playing ball
Awww, Emma loves her aunt Jenn!!! Thanks guys for letting us come, it was so much fun!
Emma had her end of the year program for preschool last week, all the parents get to come and watch the kids perform some of the songs they have learned throughout the year. Emma was so excited for at least a week before the program telling me they had been practicing all the songs they were going to sing and she sang them at home all the time too, it was so cute to see her practice her songs. Well, on the morning of the program I told her today was the day I got to go see her sing and she couldn't have been happier. We got her all ready and made it to preschool and got ready for the program to start. Here is a picture of Emma and TJ before it started. Notice how happy Emma looks.
These next pictures are from during the program. She started out great, singing and doing the actions.
After singing the first couple of songs this is all we got from Emma (above) and below is what happened near the end. It may look like she is doing actions but is actually going to wipe a tear. 
Poor Emma got so embarrassed it was all she could do to not burst into tears. It was sweet and sad at the same time. I wanted so bad to grab her and give her a hug! She stayed up there the whole time though, even though she was near tears. I felt horrible that she didn't get to sing her songs she worked so hard on. After we got home and she recovered from her traumatic experience, she felt bad and wanted to do the program again. I told her we couldn't so she settled with singing the songs by herself for us. I can't believe how much I love this sweet little girl!!!
Six things about me
1. I am a HUGE sucker for sweets, especially chocolate. Honestly, if I see it...I eat it. Jared thinks it is funny to tease me about my ability to make half (or less) a pan of brownies, cookies, cake or most anything else because it is usually at least half gone by the time he sees it.
2. I love the outdoors, anything from hiking, boating, camping, or fishing. I am really looking forward to the warm weather and getting outside for whatever reason. I was just thinking this morning how much fun it would be to take the kids camping, even if it was just up Farmington Canyon.
3. I have just recently decided I really like to run. We just bought a treadmill and I love it! I have never been a runner and am still not very good but I really enjoy it and am looking forward to running my first 5K!
4. I am deaf in my right ear, can't taste on the right side of my mouth, and don't cry out of my right eye. Most of you already know these are the results of my brain surgery to remove a benign tumor. So if you talk to me and I don't respond, it's not because I am being rude, you are just talking into my bad ear. :) I also occasionally get a really sour taste in my mouth, usually because of something I ate, or smelled, or thought about eating, and it usually lasts for quite a while. Very annoying!
5. This one may come as a suprise to Jared but I actually like to cook. The part I don't like is deciding what to cook and going shopping for the groceries I need. Maybe I will get over that someday, like when I don't have 3 small kids to take to the store with me.
6. I have three kids who I absolutely adore! I love being a stay at home mom and wouldn't want to do anything else. Of course there are parts of being a homemaker I could do without, one of the biggest being laundry :) . Oh well, I will put up with the things I don't like so I can enjoy the things I do like. After all, I did grow up in a home where my mom's motto and theme song were, "GET OVER IT". Love you mom!
There you go, I actually had a pretty hard time thinking of six things to tell about myself. I now tag Elise, Amanda, Julie, Kinley, and anyone else who wants to.
Again, I am slow in posting but Emma turned 4 on the 29th of April. I can't believe she is so big! She got to open one present in the morning, it was everything she needed to be a princess for the day. Here she is all dressed up. 
We also had pink pancakes with purple syrup for the special occasion. Here she is ready to blow out her candles. Just a tip, when you put candles in pancakes wait until the pancakes cool off a bit. Otherwise they melt! Genius.
We started off the morning at the park and ended it with strawberry shortcake (yummm) at my mom's. We also went and saw Horton Hears A Who (with Emma all dressed up of course). It was great because we, along with my sisters and their kids, were the only ones in the theater so the little boys who got restless towards the end of the movie could run around and not bother anyone. During the movie I handed Emma a starburst, she ate it and a little while later poked me and said, "mom, was there paper on that treat you gave me?" She had eaten the wrapper along with the candy and didn't realize it until the candy was gone and the paper was stuck in her teeth. It was pretty funny.
Just a few things I love about Emma
Emma is my little sweetheart. She definitely has a stinky side but for the most part is very sweet. I have loved watching her with Rees these last few months. She takes such good care of her and keeps telling me she can't wait to be a mom. She is so fun and I have loved watching her grow these last 4 years.
As I was cleaning up Emma's birthday decorations I kept hearing her say, "I'm being a mommy, I'm being a mommy" over and over again, I wasn't really paying attention thinking she must just be playing with her dolls. When I finally looked at her this is what I saw. This is Emma being a "mommy". I sure love her!
