Flake Ranch

We went up to the Flakes Ranch a couple days ago. It is seriously the happiest place on earth!! We rode horses, enjoyed the beautiful weather, went on a morning run (just me), and played outside to our hearts content. Scarlett and Alice loved roaming and playing with their Flake cousins. 

We also spent the afternoon in Provo eating at every hot spot like Slab Pizza and J Dawgs. It was delicious! We walked around BYU campus and told Scarlett the story of how Nick and I fell in love at BYU. She asked to hear the story again and again. The campus holds a special place in my heart. I actually only spent one fall there but the memories I made that freshman fall were powerful. A whoosh of feelings and emotions came back when I saw the campus covered in red and yellow leaves. It is a beautiful sight. I just love Provo in the Fall!

What made this trip the best was that 6 out of 7 of us kids were together. Caity and clarah drove down from Idaho, Nate came up from Provo, Brady was in town for a conference, and of course Emily and I were there. That's 6! We missed Kim but next time she will be forced to come up. It was fun to talk late into the night and devour all the scrumptious food we made. At times is was a feeding frenzy. Camps and Flakes know how to eat! It was a great and memorable weekend.

BYU campus

Bottom line: Kids were filthy, exhausted, and still ask every second to go back!

The Patch

He have a pumpkin patch by our house. In Vegas that means a parking lot with some hay, rides, animals, and over priced pumpkins. We drive by it almost everyday. Scarlett screams with delight everytime. She yells "oh look it's the patch mom!". Alice picked up on it so they both yell "the patch, the patch, the patch" every time we drive by. We surprised them on Thursday and finally took them to "the patch". We got scarlett 5 tickets and she chose the rides she got to go on. Her favorite was the huge slide and bouncy obstacle course. It was great fun and the kids ran wild for the evening.

Can you tell she loved it

view of the strip while taking a little spin

Oh she adored the animals. Up on her tippy toes petting the goat.

Run wild

Alice My Love

She loves fruit snacks (which she steals from the pantry all day), her fuzzy blanket and bottle/sippy cup. I still put her down for bed with a sippy...sigh. It is terrible and I should really nip it in the bud but it makes it sooooo much easier. I'll do it later. The other day she was running around my feet while I made dinner and I realized how big she is getting. She is tall, mobile and loves to talk. Her new favorite words are "punkin" "spooky" and "JILL" (over and over and over till my ears hurt!). Watching her grow and develop is a joy and I wake up every morning excited to see her! But I think I may be ready for a real baby because apparently Alice grew up! I see a small newborn and I want one...hmmm this is not good:)

She still loves me best! 

Joy School

It was our turn for joyschool today. Scarlett was so excited for all her friends to come over she woke up at 6am to help get ready. The 2 hours of school went by so fast and the 6 kiddos (7 with Alice) were extremely well behaved. I was shocked to find out the kids favorite activity of all was...reading books. They LOVED reading Where the Wild Things Are and Faster,Faster and acting out all the animals. Next time I am reading more books!

Alice may have loved it the most!! She found a new best friend...the cd player. She turns it on and then dances to the all the cute kid songs. Watching this girl do all the actions for "itsy bitsy spider" melts my heart.

Oh, my lovely Scarlett

Watching Scarlett grow and develop her personality has been a joy these past months. Everyday she teaches me about love, kindness, and patience. She has no idea the example she is to her family. I feel so blessed to have my oldest have such a pure heart!

She takes her role as a big sister very seriously and loves to make Alice happy. I find her sharing with Alice, even if it is her favorite toy. She says "Oh Alice, you can have it. You can give it back later". At times Alice can be naughty and do naughty things. I get frustrated! Scarlett routinely reminds me "Mom, she is just a baby! It's okay." She helps get Alice dressed in the morning and then helps get her undressed for a bath at night. She even gently takes out Alice's hair tie saying "there you go Alice. Doesn't that feel good?" Her kindness is a gift from above. Scarlett is a second mother to Alice and it has been a huge help to me.

Scarlett has love in her heart. She yearns to make everyone around her feel loved. She draws me a picture when ever she goes to the gym child care. When I pick her up she says "mom I made it for you because I love you!" She will make her bed and run to tell me "mom, I did it because I love you!" We have discussions about choosing the right when I put her bed. She understands that making right choices shows Heavenly Father and Jesus that you love them. I am amazed at how much love she has to give. When you are around Scarlett you feel loved!

This morning we had eggs for breakfast. They are Scarlett's favorite food, she LOVES eggs and toast. Alice ate her eggs really fast and wanted more but we were all out. Scarlett immediately said "here you go Alice have my eggs and I will have yogurt". She gave Alice her eggs and Alice beamed with gratitude. In her baby voice Alice said "thank you Scarlett". That sums up my most beautiful little girls!

at Lake Powell in 2010

Update: Not Alice or Scarlett

These days Nick and I are pretty busy we seem to be wearing many hats. Here is a quick update on us...

Nick
- Finishing his last semester at Indiana University. He is just 2 classes away from getting is MBA and we all could not be more excited! He has managed school very well and has always made time to be with me and the girls. He does most of his school work in the evenings after the girls are asleep and then all day Saturday.

-He is still working at Main Streen Capital and loves everything except the hour daily commute. He works in Summerlin so it is quite the drive every day. We are hoping to move soon and cut that time in half. He leaves at 630 and is home by 5ish. It is so nice to have him home to help with dinner and the girls that time of night.

- Then he became a seminary teacher and it through us all for a loop!! He just started 3 weeks ago and we are still trying to figure out how this will all work. He leaves every morning at 540am and the week that he teaches (he team teaches luckily) gets home around 8pm. He has been staying late at work to plan his lessons and do school work. He comes home worn out and I must say I am pretty burnt out too! I love weekends and having his help in the mornings and bed time...oh I just love it! But he loves teaching, the kids he works with, and planning his lessons. I know that we will get into a rhythm and this new schedule will become normal. I knew that marrying such a wonderful man would have a price. Everybody just wants a piece of Nick's goodness:)

Jill
- Taking kids to the library, joyschool, park dates, grocery store, and everywhere else. They are my buddies and go everywhere with me. Just the other day I hauled them into Lowes to get some parts for our stroller and I found myself in a crowd of men in the hardware department. I didn't really fit in:) My girls have learned to sit very well in a cart and be pretty patient!

-In February my sister Emily and I became certified health coaches. We work for a company called Take Shape for Life. It has been such an eye-opening and fantastic experience. I have became more out going and expanded my knowledge on all things business. 2 weeks ago I was sitting with our accountant chattin' it up about a series LLC and S corps and it dawned on me "this is totally awesome." Still working on understanding it all! We sure love working together and watching this program change lives. It has been one of the best decisions for me. I feel that it has pushed my knowledge, made me more productive, and made me see that I can go out of my comfort zone and be successful!

-Scarlett is in joyschool not preschool which means that I have to teach...yikes! Talk about going out of my comfort zone. Luckily, there are 6 kids in the class so I only teach 1 out of 6 weeks. I can totally handle that. Scarlett is so excited to have school at our house and show all her friends her toys. We do it with ward members so I really like how close all the houses are and that she knows the kids very well. I hear her talking/singing to herself about all her new friends. I teach in 2 weeks so wish me luck!!

That about sums us up. We love date nights...enough said!