swimming is great...

this summer my kids both took swimming lessons with the amazing miss pam & miss kaylynn.  i would be totally understating things by saying they LOVED swimming & there teachers!  they are now both incredibly confident & capable in the water & wish they could be in the water all the time.  both of the "miss's" impacted my kids in such a positive way i can't even explain it.  we love them sooooo much!  thank you to the miss's & all of the life skills that they taught my little lovies.

{avi & her safety place}

{becks with the ring & the float}

{the kids & miss kaylynn}

{swim, swim, swim}

{gotta get to the step}

{watch out for spashes}

{& the diving board}

{good kicks!!!}

{the breath goes in better with a bigger mouth}

{i love her in those goggles}

{saying bye to the toys is always hard}

{& could you just eat up that swim cap??}

{one last jump...}

bad things happen in 3's... right?

hopefully our string of bad luck is over!  it started about 3 weeks ago now, when i fell off our front porch & ruptured all the blood vessels on the outside of my left foot:(  now, 3 weeks later, it still hurts to walk too much.  sorry no pics of my black, blue, green, purple & yellow swollen foot.

5 days later... we were up out the cabin with all the cousins & the kids were out playing, when all of the sudden, someone comes in carrying becks.  he has a gash in his leg so deep you can see the fat & there is blood dripping down to his foot.  AWESOME!!!  sunday night was spent in the pediatric after hours getting 7 stitches in his leg.  he was a champ though!  he watched the whole thing & didn't cry once.  he told quinn, that it was just because he was there:)  the worst part about the whole thing is that summer was over for him 10 days early.  no water anything while the stitches were in & he didn't get them out until the first day of school.

{a mended wound}

{just playing around before the fun starts}

{easy does it...}

{just checkin' out his new lightning mcqueen bandage}

6 days after that...  i had taken the kids to the park so quinn could get the mowing done quicker.  we had a great time, but when we got home, quinn pulled me aside & told me that lola had been hit by a car.  the most maddening part was, the car didn't even stop.  he assured me that she was fine, but of course i went right to the garage to check for myself.  turned out she wasn't fine... she wouldn't stand up, she just sat there looking at me.  when we tried to stand her up her leg would just flop.  i called my friend, the dogs groomer, to ask her opinion.  she told me some tests to do to make sure she was okay for the night & called the vet to let them know we'd be bringing her in first thing in the morning.  she was fine that night & in the morning we took her in to find out that she had a fractured leg & would need surgery to put pins in to hold it together.  she is doing fine now, but now she is the one that can't do too much.

{one sad, wounded puppy}

{with one seriously bad haircut!}

i really hope that we will be injury free for a while at our house & that lola's hair grows back quick!

8 years past... on to a new chapter~

i write this post with tears welling up in my eyes, but knowing that change is hard, good or bad.  

after only being married 10 months, my new hubby & i decided to take all of our savings & buy a flower shop:)  now 8 years later, it was the best hair brained idea we ever had!  but a lot has changed in that time & now 2 houses, 2 kids & 2 dogs later... it has just all become too much for me!  my now not so new hubby wanted to do something that HE was a little more "needed" in the work place & i need to support him.  even if it means giving up the store.  i know it is the best thing for my family, i guess i'm just scared!  scared that i am giving up on what i am good at, scared that i will feel a whole in my creative spirit & most of all sad about the people i will miss that i have built friendships with through bloomer's.  even though the future is unknown, i  can't wait to see what it holds & i am so grateful for the amazing things i was able to do... all because of a little flower shop!

**also, if you live close~ we will start our inventory liquidation tomorrow, August 15th @ 10:00 am.  everything will be 50% off... & if you come in i promise i won't cry!

miss Taylor ann...

i know i have been MIA for a while & i am sorry!!  between vacation & injuries {info to follow}, life has been crazy to say the least!  here are some pics of darling little taylor ann-  that i took for her 1 years.  she is so darling & i have been lucky enough to do her pics since she was born.  i am so glad that her mom & my sister became friends in grade school:)

** i promise that i will fill in all the info on our trip & the wounds!

holy cow... i won!

i am not a big contest enterer, because i have always thought to myself- "if i like something, i don't need someone to tell me if they agree with me."  & i don't mean that with any sort of disrespect!  i just have never needed to walk the same way as everyone else.  but i have to be honest~ i am totally flattered that cjane & whoever else was looking, liked what they saw!

anyway... onto the details.  i was on my friend Haley's blog & i saw that she had submitted a picture to this little blog contest, so i followed her link & did the same.  i didn't think much else of it until i was reading a comment from someone on my blog & saw that they had seen me on cjane.  so i went back & low & behold- i won.  thanks cjane for the fun contest & for making my week just that much happier:)

p.s. i might not pass on all contests anymore.

{my sweet avi bug waving at the flag was my winning shot}

"is it America's Birthday yet?"...

this is the question that i got from becks every morning for 2 weeks leading up to the 4th of July.  the first morning was the day after we put the flag up at our house.  when i told him, "not yet."  he responded with... "well then, why is the flag up?"  valid question i guess. 

our 4th is always jam packed with festivities!  we are so lucky to be able to get ticket from grandpa Mark, 2 years in a row, for balloon rides.  & this year the boys got to go up with aunt stephy & wy-wy.  it's early but totally worth it!  for some reason this year becks was really nervous about going, but the pilot said as soon as they we up he was like a totally different kid!  now becks wants to be a balloon pilot when he grows up:)

the balloon ride was over 2 hours this year.  it was crazy!  the boys had a blast, but it did make us late for the parade:(  & parking is always a nightmare, but again always worth it.  it works out well though, because my sister works at Acydia school of ashetics, so she puts blankets out in from of the school at the Wells Fargo building-- otherwise we wouldn't do the crazy camp out thing!!!  it is always fun to see how much fun the kids have watching the parade, dancing with the bands, running in the street like mad men for a salt water taffy.  oh to be young & so easily excited :)  after the parade we went straight home for naps, so we could get up & go to dinner & my grammy Donna's & grandpa Vern's.

the 4th wouldn't be complete without hitting up the festival- all 3 days:)  my mom is in charge of booking the entertainment, so if we want to see her during the holidays, that is where she can be found.  the kids love the food, the music, the reptiles booth & all of the people.  all in all it as fun as always & i am a little sad it is over.  i am glad that i live in America & that we were able to celebrate such a fun birthday for the land of the free! 

{becks & wy-wy getting ready to fly}

{just chillin' with dad & grandpa. the only proof avi was at the balloons}

{getting the ballon up is a lot easier than taking it down!}

{a view from the basket}

{still nervous... avi even lent her snuggily.  & if you know avi she never lets that go!}

{Alexander's balloon is the first balloon up, with the flag...}

{& they're off!}

{the skies were beautiful after the storm passed}

{after touch down, this kid was all smiles... talking about next year already}

{avi waved at every float that came by}

{while becks screamed at every float that came by}

{all smiles, even after a long morning}

{good bye until next year... can't wait}

**for more fun freedom fest pics vistit http://cjaneprovo.blogspot.com/2009/07/recap-photo-contest.html?showComment=1247156973940#c8429406988799655419

Ruby's Mood...

changes like utah weather:)  i have know ruby's family since her mom was like 10.  we bought her great grandpa's house & her darling grandma, in some of these shots, is my amazing neighbor!  i had the privilege of taking her newborn pictures & she is just becoming more & more darling!