Time Our For Women 2012

 Debi and Tamra together at last!

 My BFF's who I would be lost without.

 The crew from church who all went.  So fun!

 Singing group Mercy River with Suzanne, me and Melissa.

Aunt Tamra and my boys saying good-bye at the airport.

It was another great experience attending Time Out For Women.  It was a special treat having my sister join us.  The only thing missing was my sweet friend Terra.   :(

  The theme this year was "Seek the Good."  I leanred a lot, but one thing that has really stuck with me was a story that was told about President Monson (prophet for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints).   A story was told that when he says something like, "What can I do to help?" he takes it one step further and says, "Here is what I can do."  I don't know how many times I offer to help and then leave it at that.  I have enjoyed trying to think of ways I can actually help in different situations and offer specific ways in which I can help.  There are so many other things I took from the conference as well but I won't share them all here.

Having Tamra come for the weekend was GREAT!  We not only went to Time Out For Women, but we also went to a Sara Evans concert.  She spoiled my boys rotten and they still ask when they get to see Aunt Tamra again.  It was a fabulous weekend!  Thanks to all who joined in the fun!

ADORABLE!!!

Eric is in the awful in-between stage with naps.  He isn't quite ready to nap at 12:00 or 1:00, and he can't quite make it all the way until bedtime.  So, he often falls asleep around 4:00 or 5:00.  Then he is up until 9:00 or 10:00.  Anyway, one day Jesse was taking a nap on the couch.  Eric crawled up on him and immediately fell asleep.  I thought it was the cutest thing I had ever seen!

Bluebonnets!

My handsome boys!

Having fun!

Finally a family picture (thanks Melissa)!

Me and my boys!

Which one of these is not like the other? 

All my boys!

Daniel

Ryan

Eric

We LOVE the bluebonnets.  This year the fields seemed so much larger than in the past and they bloomed earlier.  As we drive down the highway Jesse points out all the bluebonnet patches by saying, "There's one!"  It gets really annoying because they are everywhere!  The kids think he is hilarious though.  Can't wait until they come back again. 

Dinosaur Valley

 T-REX!!

Ryan & Jax climbing the rocks.

Westley, Daniel and Andre preparing for battle.

Most of the crew.

Oh Daniel!

Jesse realizing how cold the water is.

Can't get much cuter than that!

Suzanne with her kiddos (niece and nephew also).

For spring break we took a day and drove south for an hour and a half to Dinosaur Valley.  There we played on the playground, had a picnic, went hiking, and then spent most of the time playing in the water.  It was a great day spent with family and friends.

We had a little scare when Daniel asked some teenagers if he could check to see if their tunnel was sturdy.  They said yes so Daniel went up top and jumped.  The tunnel caved in right on top of one of the teenagers.  Thankfully there were enough adults around to quickly dig him out.  He was fine; just a little shaken up.  Hopefully Daniel learned a valuable lesson since there were several he could have learned form that experience.  At the end of the day we were going through our favorite things for the day.  Daniel then asked if he could say his least favorite thing.  He said, "The worst thing was when I almost killed someone."  I had to agree with him.

The Escape

This happened over a month ago.  My boys are "all boy" but Eric is my only one to climb out of the crib.  I wasn't quite ready to move him into his toddler bed, but he didn't leave me much of a choice.  He looks so big when I see him sleeping in his toddler bed.  I guess they do grow up.

Made over dining room table and chairs

 BEFORE

 AFTER

We received this table from Jim and Tamra for our wedding almost 12 years ago.  Jim built it for us.  After going through three boys it definitely needed a make-over.  The structure is solid though thanks to my awesome brrother-in-law.  You're the best Jim!

The chairs had to be reupholstered with a mateial I could wipe off.  The cloth fabric wasn't working with my messy family.  I love how the black brings out the design on the chair.  So pretty!

You can also see the old walls of the dining room (green) compared to the new blue and white ones.  It's a good thing I have great friends to help me complete all my projects.  Thank you Brandon and Melissa!!  Don't know what I would do without you!

Mohawks

My boys have become obsessed with mohawks.  Ryan especially.  I wasn't too happy about it, but Grandpa Shumway was all for it.  While he was here he was only too happy to help the boys do their hair.  He even provided the gel.  What a great Grandpa!  And yes, Ryan even showed up to church with his hair in a mohawk.  Oh well!