The big 0-5

I am officially the worst blogger in the world! Jackson's birthday was 2 months ago and I'm just now getting to it. But, better late than never.

So, in the middle of September, the 15th to be exact, Jackson turned 5. It's very strange to think that Jackson will go to Kindergarden next year! Crazy and fun all at the same time!

Jackson actaully got to celebrate his birthday a few times because we celebrated it with just our family on the 15th, Grandma Jennis took him another day for his birthday day with her and then we had another party at the park with my extended family that weekend. Lucky boy. He pretty much had a whole birthday week!

Jackson didn't want a cake this year...he wanted "dupdakes" (aka cupcakes ) like his brother had for his birthday. And, don't worry - we didn't eat them plain like the picture shows! We frosted them as they were eaten cause they were easier to transport to the park that way!

Jackson brings such a fun, loving Spirit into our home and it is truly a blessing to have him as a part of our family! We love you, Jackson! : )

California/Idaho Adventures

So, at the end of the summer, Kaylie got to fly all by herself to California and spend the week with her Aunt Darby and Grandma and Grandpa Harden. Lucky girl! I was a bit nervous to just throw my little girl on an airplane and say, "Well, hope you make it!" But, she was so confident and excited to go that it made it a bit easier.

Here are some pictures from her trip...

The first day that she was there, they took a boat out to Catalina Island. Apparently this was a platform that fishermen clean fish on!

This picture was taken at the LA Temple grounds. Darby has church in a building on the temple grounds.

Of course, you can't go to California without going to the beach! But, Kaylie is a girl after my own heart. She didn't care for the beach much because of all the sand and salt water! In our opinion, a chlorinated pool surrounded by concrete is WAY better! : ) And, there aren't animals that can bite your leg off in one chomp at the local pool!

Kaylie was pretty excited to visit Kermit the Frog's star in Hollywood! She also saw John Wayne and Michael Jackson's stars, along with some others, but Kermit was definitely her favorite.

After spending a few days with Darby in LA, they jumped on a train and rode out to Riverside to go to Grandma Harden's house.

After Kaylie spent a couple of days with Grandma and Grandpa, they jumped in the car and drove to Idaho, where they were meeting us for Penelope's (Dayna and Ben's newest addition) baby blessing. For us, it was a quick weekend trip. We drove up on Friday and came home Sunday. But, it was a fun trip, nonetheless. While we were there, we made sure to visit Drew and I's old stomping ground of Ricks College. YES, RICKS COLLEGE...not BYU Idaho. It will always be RICKS to me! It was fun to see all of the changes that have been made since we were there 12+ years ago. I think that the best addition, of course, is the new temple. It's beautiful! It sits up at the top of the hill and you can see for miles when you're on the grounds.

We made sure to visit Big Jud's, a really yummy hamburger joint where they have a 1 lb. burger challenge. Go Ben! He ate the 1 lb. burger!

We even attempted to take some updated family pictures with everyone. Unfortunately, it was so sunny, that we couldn't get everyone with their eyes open at one shot, but at least it satisfied Diane's needs for updated pictures!

All-in-all, we had a really fun end of the summer trip. We got to see everyone on Drew's side and the kids got to play with their cousins that we don't get to see more than once or twice a year. Thanks, Harden Clan, for the fun time and memories! : )

What a nice surprise!

I know, I know! It's been forever since I've done my blog. Sorry, but life happens. But, since I'm really behind, that means that there will be several posts in a short time to catch me back up, so that will make up for the lost time, right!? : )

So, this first "catch-up" post is all the way back from my birthday (6-18) and my anniversary (6-25). Because they are both so close together, Drew decided to combine them and surprise me with a fun scavenger hunt and a couple of nights without kids! It was such a fun surprise! Mom showed up at the park where the kids and I were playing with a bunch of balloons and a camera! So, here is the scavenger hunt, thanks to mom and her photography skills.

There was a clue in the first balloon that told me to go somewhere where we always go to get snacks for a movie. (and thanks to mom and Mallory for putting each clue into a cute little rhyme! I had all of the clues somewhere, but I can't find them to tell you exactly what they said, but they were clever and cute.)

So, that clue led me to the dollar store! That's where we go to get candy to sneak into the movies!

When I bought the candy, the clerk gave me the next clue, which told me to go to the theater.

At the theater, there was a gift card waiting for me. The girl in the window was so cute. I went to leave with the envelope and clue and she stopped me and asked me if I would read it in front of her! She was pretty impressed with Drew and thought it was very romantic. The next clue led me to the Safeway floral counter.


At Safeway, there were some daisies waiting for me (my favorite!) and another clue that told me to go to my favorite restaurant for lunch. Well, that's an easy one!


OLIVE GARDEN!!! Love it! And, who was there waiting for me?

What an awesome husband I have!
I love him so much for his thoughtfulness. We had a fun couple of days (and nights...wink, wink!) while mom kept the kids at her house. Thaks everyone for helping Drew pull this one off! He's got big shoes to fill next year...I think that the only thing that could beat this year is a trip somewhere next year! : )

The Hannah Montana Family Singers

So, thanks to Grandma Harden, we've got a fun "toy" at our house! All that I have to say is that Hannah Montana better watch out, 'cause we're coming for her gig! We could be the Hannah Montana Family Singers. And, we'd probably sing as well, if not better than she does! : ) I've even got the stage names ready:

Redneck Montana

Pretty-girl? Montana

(yeah, look closer - that's Jackson!)

"Blondie" Montana
(check out the throwback to the 80's side ponytail!)

Billy-Bob Montana

Look Mom, no hands!

What is going on!? This week, my "baby" learned how to ride his big-boy bike without training wheels! Crazy, huh!? This has been something that we've been trying to do now for about a month, on and off. Before school got out for the summer, Jackson would have me come outside with him to help him try to ride his bike, but then he would wobble and get scared and then not want to do it.

Well, this week we decided that we would try it again. So, he went to the garage with Dad, got his shoes and his bike and something just clicked. He had Drew help him a few times and before we knew it, we had a bike-riding fool on our hands! We pretty much couldn't get him off of his bike after that. So, I've hit another one of those "MAN, I'm getting old!" moments...I've no longer got training wheels at my house! All of my kids can ride two-wheel bikes. Kind of crazy, but fun. Now we can do bike rides that don't involve Drew or I dragging someone behind them in the trailer and adding 50 lbs. to our ride. Yahoo for that! : )

Blake is sooo excited to finally have his brother to ride bikes with!

Relay for Life!

So, this last weekend was our annual Relay for Life "walk-a-thon" in Longmont. Relay for Life is a Nation-wide event that raises Cancer Awareness and helps raise money for the fight against Cancer. It is such an inspiring event and it really makes you realize how many people this terrible disease actually affects.

This year, our Relay team consisted of Nikki, Mallory, Kelsey, Heather, me and our TC was Nikki's sister, Cindi (TC stands for Teacm Captain - but Kelsey nicknamed her TC and it just stuck!) Cindi had some friends come to the event as part of the team, but all of them were party-poopers and none of them stayed overnight. We played, ate and walked. I would like to say that we slept, but can you really consider sleeping in a tent on and off for a couple of hours sleep!? It was sooooo much fun, though. Cindi was awesome for organizing our team again this year and it was good times had by all.

All of the people at the event in purple shirts are Cancer Survivors and they open the event by doing one lap around the park. It's a really cool sight and very inspiring.

Here's Nikki doing her survivor walk! You Go, Girl! Show Cancer who's boss!

Here's our team! (well, at least the "cool ones" who decided to stay the night!)

My new "Do"!

So, after a while of having my hair as long as it's been in years, I decided that it was time for a new hair style. I liked having my hair longer for a change, but I just needed something new. I consulted with my awesome and talented hairstylist (love you, Mal!) and she thought that it would be fun to do a cute long bob. Well, after we got started on the cut, she just couldn't resist cutting it all off and doing a fun short bob. I LOVE it and am soooo glad that we did it. And when I say "we", I really mean "she" because I just sat there and watched it all! : ) So, drumroll..................................TADA! Here's the new me: