Closing up

I know I am not an army wife, I don't even know how they do it. But for us, and our daily routine, having Ryan gone for a month has not been fun to say the least. I am so thankful for this chance we have had to really see just how much we need each other. It has also been a great chance for me to see who my friends are. I have to give a special shout out to the Stowers, the Malmbergs, my sister Sara, my parents and especially my neighbors the Litchfields. I know I couldn't have held it together without them. They pumped bike tires, tended the girls, played with the girls, fixed lawn maintenance, and even brought good-bye gifts for all of us. I am so thankful for my friends and family and to have had this chance to see just how much I need all of them.

Sunday we went to Logan for my nephew Caleb's birthday. The kids had a blast playing together and I know Emma will miss them so much this summer.

To celebrate Emma's pre-school graduation she and I went and got glitter toes down and colored extensions in our hair. I NEVER in a million years would have guessed that me and my daughter would both have short hair, but here we are, and it's actually kind of nice.

Before my dad left for Trinidad he and my mom came out and took us to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then we ate at Farr's Fresh. Both of my girl ADORE my dad, but he and Emma have an extra special little bond that just completely melts my heart.

Today was Emma's pre-school graduation. Her teacher really went above and beyond all year long with her curriculum and program. Emma really grew and learned so much and I am glad I feel confident she is ready for pre-school. My mom had spent the night with us and joined us for the graduation and the rest of our fun day. It means so much to me to have supportive parents and sometimes I get overwhelmed with just how lucky I am to be their daughter.


So now I have my cousin Kylee with me and we are preparing to drive the 18 hours out to visit Ryan. We are all so excited to see him, but I don't think we are half as excited as he is to see us. It's been a long month and we're looking forward to our summer adventure as a family.

A Time To Keep

Mother's Day was a very simple day, but I got to spend it with my girls who made me a mother, and my own mother who taught me everything I know. My mom is the EPITOME of who I am trying to be. She is always looking for the silver lining and she genuinely loves to serve others. What I admire most about her is that she doesn't need or take the spotlight. She has always made such great efforts to build strong family traditions and memories, and she receives very little of the credit. I also greatly admire my mom for constantly over coming her fears. Photographed below is my mom holding a cat, which may seem ordinary for some, but it was a big step for my mom, and it truly does inspire me to push past my little hang ups as well. My mom is my best friend, and I respect her and continue to need her wisdom and influence in my life now more than ever.

I have been consumed the last week with getting 32 scrapbooks ready for Emma's pre-school class. I have seen every Mathew McConaughey movie there is and been getting to bed around 2 a.m. every night. I couldn't be more glad that this is over and I learned a valuable lesson that doing "trades" isn't always worth the money you save.

We spent a couple nights with my parents up in Paradise and had Addi come and join us for a few days. She and Emma play so good together and they get along better than Emma does with even her own cousins. It's so much easier for me to let her have a friend. Who knew 3 kids would be easier than 2!

So....yeah....my hair is gone. This turned out to be QUITE a bit shorter than I had envisioned, but in the end I am happy with it. I have had the same hair style for the last 15 years, so this is a welcome change.

We had one last little photo shoot before leaving for the summer. Lydia was being a pill so I didn't get any photos with she and I, but what can ya do? A Time To Keep is a favorite book of my family. I tried to recreate a similar picnic for the girls that they had in the book, and although it was a lot of work, we still had a great time.

I know, right? My precious phone! Plus, the screen is glass, so although this phone is still functioning, I have little glass shards on my fingers every time I use it. No worries, a replacement is on the way, but until then I am a horrible communicator.

So today was actually a pretty fantastic day, but I didn't have my camera. I enjoyed lunch up at Eats of Eden with my mom and the girls. Then we had fun playing on the Liberty property with the girls. We also stopped by a little boutique and bought ourselves new matching summer purses. Later that evening we went to the Marriott hotel in Ogden where my parents were spending the night (just for the fun of it) and we joined them for swimming and hot tubbing, the girls were in heaven! A very fun week filled with great family activities. I think I will miss my parents more than anything while we are away this summer.

Star of the show

Sunday we enjoyed a nice quiet day. Our neighbors the Litchfields (who are the best neighbors ever) took Emma with them to church and then kept her for a few hours so Lydia and I could enjoy some down time while we're both recovering from being sick. Then my sister Sara had us out for dinner that night. This was a very pleasant and easy day.
They're baaaack! It's that time of year again to get out the spider traps. Bleh!

My dad was out of town so the girls and I enjoyed a quick trip to Paradise to spend the night with my mom.

We enjoyed attending an over the top birthday party for our little friend Sailor Wimmer.

Emma's dance recital was just as cute as could be and I made her whole week when I told her she was the star of the show.

I have a rebellious nature, it's true. I get it from my mom. It usually builds and builds until I have to satisfy it. So I got my release from snipping some cherry blossom branches and giving a couple bouquets away and then keeping one for myself.

I loved joining my sister Sara (in the middle) and some of her/our friends for her birthday celebration at an all you can eat Sushi. We had to roll ourselves out of there but it was worth every bite!

Look-a-like

Friday I attended a great temple session with my parents and two of my sisters.

My parents finally caved and bought a mouser cat. We have all fallen for her. (sadly, two weeks later this same little Kitty met her fate with a wild animal and she is alive no more. She had a good run though)

We spent Easter up at my parents house and the girls were delighted with the Easter baskets that the bunny left for them.

We had a progressive dinner with my family and two of my aunts. One of the stops was to have sandwiches and salads in my aunt's kindergarten class room. We all loved seeing her little chicks and eating at the Kindergarten tables.

All right, the next four days I didn't take ONE single photo. So the four following photos aren't significant of anything, but they are there for the sake of amusement.

Below: Ryan Bundy as Andy Samberg (Saturday Night Live)

Lindsey as Veronica (Archie comics)

Emma as Shirley Temple

Lydia as Boo (Monster's Inc)

Thursday night and Friday night Brittney and Sailor came and spent two nights with us. It was SO nice having an adult to talk to and the girls loved having a friend sleep over. We wore them out with a full day of playing and running errands.

We have all been missing Ryan like crazy, but Emma has had an exceptionally hard adjustment.

Las Vegas...round two

Yep, a week later we returned to the Tahiti Village with our friends Landon and Brittney Wimmer and their little girl Sailor. The Wimmers are also doing summer sales and they talked us into joining them for one last hoo-rah before the guys move to Oklahoma. I'm SOOOO glad we went, we had the best time!

This is our first family vacation Ryan and I have been on that didn't include my family or going to see Ryan's family. We love taking our girls out door to explore and hike and Emma was a champ to climb to the top of this rocky mountain with Ryan.

In the evening we went out with the Wimmers for dinner at rain forest cafe. Yes the girls loved it, but the food quality did not much the prices they were charging, but the atmosphere almost made up for it. Afterwards Ryan and I took the girls to see the Bellagio water show and garden. Las Vegas Strip is rather disgusting and I will never take my kids out at night again. There were times when Emma just had to close her eyes and hold Ryan's hand because the papers on the ground were so disgusting. I am so glad we did not stay on the strip or have much to do with it. I do have to say that the photo in the bottom right corner on this collage is not painted, it is made with fresh flowers, it was worth the visit.
We were supposed to go home on Friday but just couldn't bring ourselves to do it, so we extended for one more night and I'm so glad we did. The hotel has a great grilling area and we had the patio to ourselves as we enjoyed the yummiest BBQ dinner, definitely my high for the day.

Our last day we just vegged and hung out at the pool all day! We had left overs from the night before so we grilled up another BBQ spread for lunch and we all just relaxed and soaked up the sun. We truly had the best time as a family, and also loved getting to know the Wimmers, especially since we will be seeing a lot of them this summer :)



The next day after our trip Lydia slept until nearly 3:00 in the afternoon!! I guess all that sun and fun finally caught up with her. We went to my parents for a thai dinner that my very talented sister made and then enjoyed crepes and four square with the rest of my Utah family.
Ryan worked in the yard ALL day in the POURING rain. The girls and I stayed inside, nice and warm and enjoyed life as usual.
I took Ryan to the airport at 6 a.m. for him to start his summer sales job. I'll be joining him in a month. Until then, I will eat as much girl food and salads as I can before I have a man too cook for once again.
I sure do love my most recent purchase from Real Deals.
The girls and I sat on the front porch and snuggled up watching the thunderstorm. They were both a little nervous about it, especially when the thunder literally rattled the windows. But it's moments like these that are the highlight of my day.