Memorial Day Camping ...

 We love going camping on Memorial Day and this year was one of the best years that we have gotten to go because of the weather!  It was beautiful!  We usually go prepared for snow, but this time we should have brought popsicles! This year we went with our friends the Jackson's and went up Indian Creek.  It was so much fun!  We went hiking and four-wheeling and just enjoyed being away from it all!  The kids had so much fun hiking up this huge hill across from our camp.   My brother and his family came up one of the nights and we enjoyed some dutch oven dinner, taught the boys how to start a fire and Russ taught them how to throw spears into the side of the hill.  Fun times were had by all, big and little alike!

Hair Cuts ...

We were VERY over-due for haircuts when we got home, as you can see!  It was one of the very first things we did the week we got home.  Funny Anthony looked like a porcupine!

Lydia's Birthday continued ...

Lydia had done a joy-school before we left and we were lucky enough to get invited to their graduation!  They let Lydia enjoy the fun even though we were gone half of the year.  She really enjoyed it while we were here and had a great time at graduation!

When we got home Lydia had a present from my Mom waiting and she was so excited!  It was her alphabet book full of pictures all about here.  So fun!  We let the girls get their ears pierced when they turn 5 and Lydia was impatiently waiting for us to get home to get it done.  We finally got in to do it the weekend after we got home and the boys had gone to Father/Son.  She did so awesome, didn't even cry or anything, just smiled through it all!

Mother's Day 2014 ...

I love being a mother.  These kids are so special and I'm so grateful to be their mother.  I am so blessed because they are in my life.  Some days are hard, actually, most days are hard, but it is so rewarding to see them succeed in their lives so far.

 

 I love the time we got to spend with each other while away.  No distractions, just each other to play with!  It really created a bond in our family that I hope never goes away.

Thank you for letting me be your Mom, Anthony, JennaMarie, Lydia and Owen!  

I wouldn't want my life any other way.

Back to the USA ...

 Wow, we had quite the shock coming back into the United States after being gone for four months.  It was really interesting to see what the kids noticed.  They were really a lot more aware of things that I wouldn't have even noticed we didn't have while gone.  The biggest things we noticed was the carpet on the hotel floor!  Yea for carpet. Jenna actually couldn't find where to flush the toilet either, since over in Italy and Bahrain most of the places to flush were on the wall behind or on top of the toilet, not on the side! When we first touched down in the USA, Anthony asked what language they spoke here and then what money we would use, I guess it affected him quite a bit!  

The day we arrived in Salt Lake we had a few hours to kill before we wanted the kids to go to bed, so we headed down to Jeremy and Becky's to play with cousins and catch up.  We ended up going out to pizza and really had a nice visit, but as you can see, on the way back to the hotel, the kids couldn't stay awake!  They were so tired.  

The next morning at breakfast the kids were so excited to see fruit-loops, fruit with stickers on it, milk in cartons and yummy sausage!  It was so funny to see it through their little eyes and enjoy the 'newness' of the stuff we've always had access to before.

 Home sweet home ... we joked that the only thing that changed in the four months we were gone was the color of the lawn.  Went from brown and dead in January to green/yellow in May.  It was quite an adjustment to being home, something the kids did better than I did with, but it was certainly an amazing experience that we will not soon forget.

Saying Goodbye ...

We had a few hours to pass before we had to be at the airport so we decided to enjoy the scenes of Bahrain a little longer.  We had an amazing experience there and I still kind of get teary eyed when I see these pictures and remember the hesitation of not wanting to leave.  Hopefully we will never forget these memories.  We also stopped by McDonald's one last time and the kids played with balloons, ninja style!  A great way to get out some energy before our long flights home!