Avril After School Dancing

Sometimes when I go to pick the girls up from their after school program, I find that they are having so much fun that I don't want to interrupt the good time.  This was one of those times.  I walked in to find Avril jamming to some tunes and doing this dance: I had to catch it on video.  So fun.  Avril is too embarrassed to watch herself dancing, but I get a kick out of it.  So fun!

Oreo Cookie!

 Keeney baby has a thing for Oreos.  Can you blame him?  They sure are messy!

no such thing as a bit too big with these cookies!

Mmmmm....
I think it's time for a bath now!

Baths are simply the best!!!

Singing Baby

 This little guy wants to be involved in every possible thing going on.  I thought I would sit at the piano and play a little relaxing song.  Keenan jumped up and immediately had to be apart of the music.  As soon as I started singing, Keenan joined in.  It was adorable.

chillin' in the girls' room!

Keenan joins in the song with mommy 😊

Blow Out the Candle!

Mike has been training Keenan to blow out a candle so that he will be prepared to blow it out at his birthday party.  I must admit, I did not think this would happen.  But it did.  Do not underestimate the intelligence of this little guy.  He is now trained to blow out a candle! Now bring on the birthday cake!!

Red Butte Garden

We always enjoy time spent at the beautiful Red Butte Garden.  We all went exploring and had a great time!
The girls love the kids' garden.  Keenan loved to watch the girls play there.  He did want to get out of the stroller though...
pretty sure they weren't supposed to climb those rocks.  Oh well...

Avril wanted her picture taken with the deer statues 😊

Simply adorable!

McKel was fascinated with the fish.  We even bought some fish food to feed them!

 It was a bit chilly, but a fun day at the gardens!

Bath Time!

Avril was taking a bath and Keenan could not stand to be missing out on a bath opportunity.  So I let him hop in with Avril.  It was pure joy for both kids!  One happy baby and one happy little girl.  These are the moments to cherish 💗

I love baths!!

Keeney Driving the Truck - and Walking

Mike caught a cute video of Keenan in the truck, and trying to control the music on the radio.  He LOVES to be in the driver's seat!  One of his favorite things to do!Keenan has been taking steps and walking for a little while now but we can never seem to get it on video.  He doesn't do it on cue and he is very cautious when he takes steps.  He is an awesome kid. 

Davis Park

Just around the corner from our house we have a lovely little park.  It makes living on a busy road not so bad.  Its amazing how just a short walk around the block, and you can't even hear the cars whizzing by.  We often take a stroll when it is nice outside (sometimes even when its not so nice outside) and visit the quail statues or swing on the swings.  McKel and Keenan and I decided we needed some fresh air so off we went!

McKel loves to climb the quail statue

Keenan loves to walk around.  He is always on the go!
McKel is happy to help her little brother.Sure do love my kids.

The Sweetest Avril

Sometimes I have those mommy moments where I feel like I am not doing anything right.  Other times I am in awe at how amazing my kids have turned out so far...
This was one of those awesome moments.  Avril surprised me with this sweet note and she made dinner for me.  My dinner consisted of my favorite treat - the sour watermelon, along with pistachios, a cookie, toast, ice cream, and milk.  Delicious!  And filling 😊
She knew I was having a crazy hard day, and did this to cheer me up.  She also gave me rubs.  She can be so thoughtful and sweet.
I especially like the clever I love you heart.

Thank you Avril!  It was delicious.  I love you!

Hike to the Quarry

Weekends were made for hiking. Especially nice, sunny weekends. My coworker, Elizabeth, and I followed one of the Red Butte Garden trails up to this little quarry.  Keenan was my hiking buddy.  It was a pretty easy hike and the view was spectacular.  We found this cool little quarry, which we don't really know the history on.  But it was pretty cool.

we wore Keeney out

cute sleepy baby!

Keenan Needs a Haircut

Cute pics of the baby... he needs a haircut soon, his hair is constantly getting in his eyes.  Dada, can you cut my hair??  😊  This little boy is such a cutie baby.

love a happy baby!

look at those 2 little teethies!

Am I adorable or what??

Discovery Museum With the Babysitter

We are happy that our babysitter and her kids love Keenan.  She sent me a bunch of pictures today of Keenan at the Discovery Museum.  It looked like he was having a blast, which makes me so happy 😊

Terry and Keenan

 So much fun!!
Time for a bath with mama!  Such a great day for Keenan 😊

sweet face

nice, combed hair

happy boy in his PJ's

 Avril is playing with Keenan and he pulls down her pants.  She thought it was hilarious.

11 Months Old??!!

Time really does go into super speed once you become a parents.  I can't believe Keenan is just about 1 year old.  He has such a personality developing.  He is learning new things so quickly it is unbelievable.  When you talk to him it is as if he knows what you are saying.  You can talk about a light and he will look up and point to the light.  He loves to say, "buh bye" when someone leaves the house or drives away.  He has the cutest little smile that will light up your soul.
He loves to pull every item out of every cabinet and drawer possible.
Dad was away for work in California on Keenan's 11 month birthday so we tried to take a couple of cute photos to send to him:

mama and her little baby boy

Keenan ALWAYS wants to go play outside, no matter the weather

A couple of cute 14 month old photos:

cutest smile ever!!

love this baby!

Happy 11 month birthday, Keenan!  You are growing too fast!!!  We 💗 you so so much 😊

So Much Fun!

This little boy has our hearts 💗  He just brings smiles to our lives every single day.  This morning we captured a little video of this cutie pie to start our day out right.  I love his little bed head hair poking up in the front!We also love the excitement of Keenan when it is time for a bath.  It is one of his very favorite activities.  Just watch and see the shouts of joy and the happiness in his face.  He is so glad to be in the water!Doesn't get any cuter than this little guy.  Thanks for being so very cute, Keeney baby.  We love you.

Avril's Birthday Party!!

Avril's birthday party was celebrated a couple of weeks late - partly due to the fact that she was with her dad for the birthday weekend, and partly due to my procrastination at getting a venue set up.  Everything seemed to be booked.  Oh well.  Everyone had a great time so no harm done!  We had to have a late party on Saturday night and I was worried that no kids would be able to come at the later time, but wow, we had quite the turnout!!  The gymnastics place actually turned out to be probably my favorite birthday party venue so far.  It required very little effort on my part 😊

Avril warming up and stretching out!

My little sweetie pie sister!

The kids all warming up!

This little adorable guy especially had fun crawling all over the place!

Hmmm... which apparatus should I try next?

Avril finds a cool hide-out spot with some of her friends

Nana and her grandson

It's been a loooon time since I've been able to play on any gymnastics equipment.  I was excited to try out a few moves and see if I still could do anything without injuring myself.  I surprised myself at how much I could still do.  I mean, no back-handsprings back tucks, but a few trampoline tricks and a bar move.  Not too shabby for this old mama!! 😉
 I mostly wanted to show off to my kids to say, "hey look, your mom is pretty cool!"

Caught a cute pic of Keeney just before these boys ran up to try to take over the equipment

this little guy was having a blast!

Avril wanted to show off a few of her moves too!
Awesome!

2 of the boys in Avril's class

the kids with Lyra (the piano teacher's daughter)

The kids were having so much fun playing at the gym, it was hard to get them to come in to the party room for cake and ice cream and presents!  But we finally got everyone there 😊

Happy Belated birthday, Avril!

The birthday song:
Do you think they sang loud enough??!!

Present time!

LOTS of presents!

always fun to have Matthew and Sara there with us!

everyone waiting to see what she opens up!

Sara got to spend some bonding time with baby Keenan

cute new clothes!

duck, duck, goose!

...And then they all went home!  I think it was a definite hit.  Good choice for a party, Avril.  Happy belated 8th birthday.  We love you 💗💗💗