Orren

Our sweet neighbor Orren passed away last week.  He had a heart attack.  He's been pretty sad since his wife died in August but Vivian has always been able to make him smile.  She'd go over there about once. a week with a plate of homemade cookies and he'd trade her for Oreos that he always had in his cookie jar.  He always let us know how much he loved having the kids come say hi.   he even told his parents and siblings because at his funeral they all made sure to come and meet the Vivian that always made Orren's day.  In fact, they told her that Orren wanted her to have his cookie jar...and they filled it with Oreo's.  She hugged his brother and thanked him and then let us know that when she prays to Heavenly Father, she says hi to Orren too.  We'll miss Orren.  He was such a fun, kind neighbor which was a breath of fresh air after our Taylor neighbor that did all he could to try and make our life miserable.

Also, Boston, of course is busy making banana bread and selling it this summer already.  Our house smells SO great every time he does it and he's gotten so good at making them all by himself and cleaning up 90% of his mess.

Starting Summer off....

For the last day of Jaden's lunch group we did a big BBQ here at the house. I love this group of kids.  A LOT!  They're so great and fun and happy and funny and creative and they love each other so much! I always feel ok with Jaden hanging out with them because I know they like to keep him in line.

 Ah, this nakie bum! I love it!  I'm so sad he's getting so tall.  He loves to cuddle after naps and baths and I gladly oblige.  

 Bibs is done with kindergarten!!!! Another sad moment.  So happy for her though.  She was talking about the program for weeks before it was time.  It was thee cutest ever.  Sadly she was put in the back and had 2 tall kids in front her her...ugh, but she did great!  She's already planning lots of trips to her kindergarten teacher's classroom next year.  She's already made some cute artwork for her too.

 I got to take pictures of the Gardner kids this last week and Tru came out in his overalls, so you KNOW I had to snap a few.  He's into putting his arms up in the air and closing his eyes. I have no idea why, but that's what we get for now.

                             
I LOVE being with the kids all the time. Sometimes a vacation or a weekend away, or even a long date sounds nice, but when I actually do it, I enjoy it, but regret the time away from them at this stage....of all of them.  A friend just texted me that she's working as if it were a burden and I thought, "um, single moming for a few days this week 24/hr a day is working"...but then I instantly thought about how there's NOTHING else I'd rather be doing.  Um, of course I'd love a maid and a 2nd full time parent, but Jase is really busy with his clinics right now so he's spending a lot of time down there, but I'm so glad I get to hang out with these guys all summer. We have an awesome plan set up and so far our days are going smoothly...well, a bit messy, but a lot of fun....ok, except potty training Truman...well, it's actually fun, and we're ALL involved, but it's not going well. I don't think he's ready, but we're giving it one more day.

May 2018

May was an awesome month!  Boston got the priesthood!   We were lucky enough to get to do it at our house with grandpa, uncle tracy, and bishop McDowell.   It was very special.  He's such a great kid and he's so excited to be part of young mens!

 The other day I wanted to take pictures of baby Truman and of course, Jaden was walking around without a shirt on, so I had to snap a few since it's so much fun to look back at Jason's shirtless pictures when he was a teenager.    Jaden's a pretty adorable kid.  Sure glad he's part of us!  He keeps me on the edge of my seat...DAILY...but he cracks me up and makes me proud everyday!

 He's officially dating Glory...whom we LOVE!  She's a doll and makes Jaden try harder to be awesome.  They're so hilarious and fun together and all of the kids adore Glory.

 Ok, this is THEE most overload ever!   SOOO many crazy pictures of the baby of our family!  He was being so wacky and cracking us up.

 Boston got a sweet electric scooter for his birthday and Kam took Tru for a ride.  He had a great time!

 Of course Vivi can't let a camera be taking pictures w/o her being in them.  She asked me to shoot a few of her poses....

 And I'm a HUGE slacker...these are THEE only two pictures I got from Easter.  We ended up driving to the valley right after our Easter egg hunt so we could have Easter with the cousins, b ut these are the only pictures I got.

 And this was on Mother's Day.  Tru was helping dad make a shake in his shirtless overall outfit.

 And after church he brought me a chocolate dipped strawberry, they he may have taken a few bites out of already.

 Tru loves just sitting with Jaden on the swing.  They're the cutest bookends ever!

 Vivian helped get Truman ready for church last week and asked if I could take pictures of them before we headed out....again, he did his weird closed eye picture face....

I really love all of these kids.  They're all so great, and so amazing, and so fun!