Bridget's Preschool Graduation

The whole concept of "preschool graduation" is kind of funny to me since they didn't seem to exist when I was a kid, but now they seem to be all the rage. And Bridget actually still has one more year of preschool before starting kindergarten, but all of the kids "graduate" even if they still have a year left. It would make more sense to just call it an end of the year program and let those kids who are moving on to kindergarten "graduate," but then you might have a bunch of kids having meltdowns if everything isn't equal. Oh well. It was a fun event nonetheless.

Here she is ready to perform

And here she is quite proud of herself afterward

Here's a video of the Macarena Months song they sang:

And here's a video of her getting her graduation cap while sharing her answers to some questions her teacher asked her beforehand. You may need to turn your volume way up to hear it well enough:

Congratulations on finishing your first of MANY years of school, Bridget!

Memorial Day Family Outing

It's been a couple of years since we've visited Temple Square, so we decided it was time to go again. Here's the girls in front of the Salt Lake Temple

The four of us in front of the reflection pool
In front of the Christus statue at the Visitors Center (I should mention this was Felicity's favorite part because she loves pictures and statues of Jesus. She kept running up to it and pointing and even tried to climb up a couple of times before we pulled her away).

We even went on a tour of the Conference Center

Overall we had perfect weather and a great time together as a family.

Bridget's Half Birthday

Bridget is now officially 4.5 years old. Most people assume she's at least 5 when they see her because she's so tall for her age, but sadly she still has another year before she starts kindergarten thanks to having a fall birthday.

Right now, she loves playing outside and riding her bike, playing games with anyone who'll play with her, dancing, singing (including making up her own songs), and drawing. She continues to be a great big sister and loves playing with Felicity, although there's starting to be a little more fighting now that Felicity expresses her dislikes and frustrations to her often bossy older sister. She also loves to have books read to her and is really into the Berenstain Bears right now. She prefers spending time with Mom and is into doing everything I do such as cleaning, putting on make-up, carrying a purse around, helping in the kitchen, and getting her nails painted. As girly as she is, she still enjoys wrestling with Dad too. She loves treats and chocolate, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to make some cupcakes to celebrate her half-birthday. She picked chocolate with peanut butter frosting. Yay for being four and a half!

Nate's 3rd Half-Marathon & Bridget's 1st Race

Once again, Nate completed Ogden's Half-Marathon! His goal was to complete it in under 2 hours and he did it! Here's his official stats:

Time: 1:59:15

Overall: 1070 out of 3193

Men: 567 out of 1132

Men 35-39: 145 out of 286

Here's Nate with the girls after the race. Felicity is so wiggly these days that this is the best picture we got.

Personally, I think I deserve a medal for getting myself and both girls ready (including breakfast) and to the finish line by 9 am. It was a very stressful morning for me, and I drove like mad trying to get there in time to see him finish, I had a feeling all of my effort would be in vain and we wouldn't make it. Amazingly we did, but just barely. I was pushing the stroller and trying to get Bridget to walk as fast as she could as I tried to find a place for us to stand when I happend to see Nate about 50 feet from the finish. So I saw him cross, but the girls did not.

After Nate's race, we headed home for a couple of hours so Felicity could get a good nap before we had to head back for Bridget's Kids' K. For over a year, she's been begging to run a race, and she finally got her wish. She kept changing her mind about who would run it with her, but in the end, I convinced her to choose Nate since he informed he was going to feel bad about it if she didn't. That was fine by me since I don't really love running.

Here she is in the middle of her race (Nate ran a few feet ahead of her several times to take some pictures):And here's the shot I took of both of them just before the finish while Felicity and I cheered Bridget on:Since Bridget didn't get a medal for her race, she decided it would be okay of she and Nate shared his.

Mother's Day

This was the first Mother's Day since I've been a mom that we spent the day together just as our little family. Usually we get together for dinner with Nate's extended family, but it was nice to do our own thing this time.

We had church first thing in the morning, so I spent the morning trying to hurry and get us all out the door on time. At church they gave all the women pots with soil and Forget Me Not flower seeds along with the copy of a talk by the same title by Deiter F. Uchtdorf. I remember how much I loved that talk when he gave it to the women of our church and the way it made me feel. Sometimes I need that reminder to be more patient with myself. I need to be happy with where I'm at in life right now and not always waiting to find happiness when certain things or events occur.

The rest of the day we just spent together. Bridget was so excited for Mother's Day and had been asking me for weeks when this day would finally get here. I loved seeing her excitement and the special things she tried to do for me that day including wrapping my gift herself. It wasn't what she wanted to give me, but it was what I wanted (a hand vac). She was so sweet to think of a gift for me, but it was more money than I wanted Nate to spend. She remembered me telling her a while back that I used to play the flute, but that I didn't have it anymore. It got left at my parents' house, and from there I have no idea what happened to it. She really wanted to give me a new flute, and I must admit her thoughtfulness brought tears to my eyes just as it did to hers as Nate explained to her that it was too expensive of a gift.

That afternoon we made it to the cemetery to put flowers on my mom's grave. I must admit that it's times like this that I really miss her. I can't believe it's been almost 11 years already. I wish so much that my girls could know her, but pictures and stories will have to suffice. I'm just grateful she was such a wonderful example of motherhood for me to follow. I know that as a child, I wasn't always the best and certainly didn't always agree with her parenting, but now I see a lot of wisdom in the things she said and did. She must have done a lot of things right since all 7 of us seem to have turned out pretty well.

I love my girls so much, and am so grateful Heavenly Father trusted me with their spirits and allowed me to be their mother. Sometimes I feel like I'm far from perfect, but I'm so grateful for all that I get to learn in the process. I've certainly learned more patience and have a better understanding of sacrifice. More than anything, I'm grateful for the love I feel for them and from them every single day.

Baby Animal Days

Since both of our girls love animals (not sure where they got that from because Nate and I don't), we decided to go to a local event called Baby Animal Days. There were a ton of people there, so the lines were long and we didn't have a lot of time which means we didn't really get our money's worth. At least the girls enjoyed the little they did get get see and touch. Bridget's favorite was the ponies, and they even had a place for kids to ride horses and ponies. Sadly, that line was really long, and Bridget was disappointed that she didn't get to ride one. Here's a little of what we did see:

Felicity liked the chick and even tried to give it a kiss.

Bridget was a little afraid to hold the chick at first and gave it back pretty quickly.

Felicity loved the bunnies.

Favorite Play Places

Wouldn't you play inside a kitchen cabinet and toy box if you could fit in there? Felicity seems to think it's pretty fun. She can't always get out of the toy box by herself, so she hollers for help when she's ready to get out. And she's thinks she's pretty funny when she closes the cabinet doors while she's inside so she can play peek-a-boo.  We certainly love her and her little personality!