Birthday party, Airforce show and Hill Cumorah Pageant... all in one day!!!

(I have done two two other post before this one be sure to check those out)

A couple of weeks ago Brooklyn was so excited when she learned her good friend Abby (from church) would be sleeping over at our home for two nights.  We would be watching Abby while her parents went out of town and Brooklyn was just thrilled! She kept asking how many more days before Abby slept over and that day finally came! We had some good fun for the girls but all in all I think just the fact they were together was the most fun part of all! We had a BBQ the night Abby came and then the next day we went to a birthday party at Lake Ontario, watched the air show performed by the Airforce, went swimming and traveled to Palmyra to watch the Hill Cumorah Pageant.... all in one day!  The next day was Sunday and the girls were so excited to get to go to church together and they wore their hair the same way!  I didn't get pictures of everything but below are some of what we did!  It was a fun weekend!

Blowing bubbles in Matt's face at the birthday for Brooklyn's friend, Liam, who turned 4! We are at Lake Ontario Park/Beach. 

Cute Abby! She is such a sweet gal!!! My favorite thing she says when she was trying to be polite, "Shari, I don't like this so much".... Her mother had been teaching her to not be so drastic if she didn't like something... it just made me smile each time she used that phrase.



The Birthday Boy's brother, Aiden! I know I am bad.... I didn't get a picture of Liam, whose birthday it was!! They are from our church and we love this family! Well Aiden is one smart kid and has lots of energy! The other night I babysat him and he was climbing up the wall between the doorways like Spiderman!  That kid can get in every cranny and nook!

Brooklyn signing to me asking where her bubbles were.... though this is not the sign for bubbles (its the sign for balloon) I thought it was cute!

Amazing airshow!! The girls had fallen asleep in the car from the ride back from the lake so Matt and I were able to enjoy the show without kids running all over! We didn't have tickets to the show but by golly, why would we need to buy them when we could pull over and watch them! 

 Matt really loved watching the show and was fascinated with the how fast and low they go.

 Love you Matt!

 Making our way to our seats at the Hill Cumorah Pageant!  Beautiful dusk isnt it? The girls were nervous about getting their picture taken with cast members so pardon the straight faces haha.

 Amazing pageant! We all enjoyed it!

Just had to post this... Taylor signing, Daddy!  She is becoming one good signer!

Mother's Day program, family and the beginning of summer!

Its been a couple of months since Mother's Day came but I still wanted to share what a fun Mother's Day program Brooklyn did for me. It was a Hawaiian Luau theme and she dressed up in a grass skirt with a colorful flower lei.  She sang so proudly and really, as any mother would think of their own child, was the cutest one there!  She lights up my world and I am grateful to have such a sweet daughter, not one but two daughters.  Shortly after Mother's Day family from Utah came and visited us!  Danny, Loni and Jackson Theurer!  We had so much fun with them from eating out at some of our favorite places, to visiting the church sites in Palmyra, to attending the Lilac Festival, to staying up late and eating junk, and of course shopping! It was such a fun and memorable time we look forward to having more family come visit! (hint hint)... We also have been enjoying summer nights hanging outside when its not too hot and our neighbors come and we all hang out.  Enjoy!

Cute place setting for the Mother's Day Hawaiian Luau at Brooklyn's preschool. We enjoyed all sorts of nuts, fruits and punch! 

All the mother's sure felt special!! 

Brooklyn standing proudly in the back row with a huge grin! Makes me tingle! 

Her gift to me... flowers made out of her hand prints. She was so excited for me to open this gift! She could harldy wait! 

 Fishing for a surpise at the Luau!

 The Theurer family is here!! Brooklyn and Jackson riding the train at the Lilac Festival in Rochester.

Loni and Taylor playing kissies! 

Taking pictures in front of the famous lilacs that Rochester is known for. 

Potato sack slide!! I think this was the highlight of the kids night!  

Visiting the sites in Palmyra. This was Joseph Smith's home growing up. Sorry Loni this was the only picture I had... We enjoyed the tour though it was chilly. Thank goodness we had umbrellas! 

Beautiful and green! Walking to Joseph's Smith's 2nd family home which was down from the road where the first Smith home was. 

 Danny has a knack of calming children and Taylor was quite cold so he warmed her up and she laid on his shoulder most of the tour. She loves Uncle Danny!

Brother and sister! Heading into the Sacred Grove. 

We spend some time at Kango's, a fun play place for kids! Taylor loves these cars and each time we go its the first thing she wants to do and be pushed around in it. Can you tell how excited she is? 

Cute couple! 

Jackson and his cute red cheeks loving the tricycle! 

Can ya tell she's been playing rough? 

Feasting at Cheesecake factory.  It seems to be one of our traditions when we get together with Danny and Loni. We both love this place! Taylor showing off her spoon skills! 

These two played so well together. They sure do miss each other! 

Matt bought me these flowers and also the basket of white flowers for Mother's Day. Brooklyn helped me plant the flowers and we also planted her Sunflower that she has been growing since it was a seed. We will post pictures later so you can see how big its gotten! 

Brooklyn wanted some sun one day and so she got in her swim suit and brought her blanket outside to layout.... it only lasted for about 5 minutes... it was too HOT!  

Our neighbor and friend from chruch, Cory. He loves little kids and babysits for us. The girls just love him!!! 

 Our friend Greg (and dive coach at the U of R) showing off his skills! All the kids ended up wanting to try it. It was a fun night eating otter pops, playing games, and maybe getting bit by a few mosquitos.

Cory attemping to master a new skill. 

Brooklyn's turn!  

Caleb masterd it!!! Caleb and Cory are brothers and we sure love having them around. Sad they are moving to a new home but still in our ward! So thats good! We will miss having you guys just down the road!

Summer Summer Summer

First off I just want to share how much I love my family.... Words just can't express how much I love Matt and our two little girls. Its so fun being a family and though at times there are struggles, in the end we always love each other and its what makes being a family such a special privilege. I love you Matt, Brooklyn and Tay-Tay!

We have had so much fun this summer and we still have more fun to be had!  Its been fun watching the girls grow especially Taylor as at her age they seem to grow so fast! Taylor has grown physically by being able to do things for herself, talk, sign, and just run all over like she is in a race!  Brooklyn has grown mentally. She seems to have more confidence in herself especially in swimming, she understands what it means to help mom and dad around the house, she ask many questions and also makes observations that blow our minds.  Matt and I are lucky to have such two beautiful daughters and feel so blessed to be able to raise them here on earth.  Thank you Heavenly Father for sending us such wonderful blessings.

Enjoy the pictures below of us all enjoying the summer days! There will be another post of more summer fun as well! Don't forget to check those out!

Taylor's first attempt using a spoon to feed herself. She is doing pretty good and is still trying to figure out how to keep all the food on her spoon and in her mouth before it falls off.

 Tay-Tay loves otter pops!!! Looks like she is getting a brain freeze right here. Kids out here have never heard of the word "otter" pop.... is this a Utah thing?

Her famous pucker lips! Darling girl! 

 Its been so HOT HOT HOT and HUMID HUMID HUMID here in Rochester. Matt is trying to cool off near our little vent... It just doesn't cool us off enough!

Taylor... oh boy... She is going to drive the boat someday. Anytime we are on a boat she heads straight for the steering wheel. Its going to be one crazy drive once she gets a handle on it! 

Floating in Canandaigua Lake with our friends, the Evans, from Utah! 

Spencer, Matt and Taylor, Monica, Brooklyn.  The Evans invited us on their family party boat and we had so much fun cooling down in the waters against the blazing heat.

Floating on a tube just a little too small for me!  

Spencer and his cute boy, Ezra. 

Me and my girls!!! 

Swimming at a pond in Bloomsfield, NY.  This pond was just awesome and we can't explain how cool and beautiful it was. Its a man made pond with a 10 foot high or so dock, a floating island with a slide, a zip line, and a rope to swing off into the water. Picture this pond on a 10 acre land with trees all around... breath taking! 

 The bigger view of the beautiful pond.

 Someday, well maybe someday, when I get a good camera, I will be able to get a picture of Brooklyn mid-air during her jump into the water. She just loved this dock and jumped off it countless times, as opposed to her mother who did it once! Well hey at least I did jump off it right!

 Of course Brooklyn was the last one to leave the dock... she didnt want to leave...

 Also on the 10 acre lot was a pretty neat above the ground pool! Trees all around with flowers too!  We had so much fun swimming at three different locations all day!

 The Evans and our family were in the same church ward in SLC. They also have 3 girls that didn't come on the trip, Scout, Brooklyn and Addy. We have kept in touch through all our moves. Monica is actually from Rochester and still has family here. We are lucky we get to see them whenever they come out!  Thanks again Evans (and also Mindy and Todd)! 

Running and running and running... even when the sun has gone down...