Monday, October 4, 2010

{Eli's 2nd Birthday & Angels}

June 19th ended up being a VERY busy day for me.  Eli's 2nd birthday was on the 18th, so we decided to have his party on Saturday the 19th since we were going to rent a bounce house for the day.  But before the party I had my 4th 5K of the year to run.  It was called Running With Angels and the race was on paths of the beautiful gardens at Thanksgiving Point.  Let's just say that this was the toughest race so far.  Staying up until the wee hours of the morning trying to finish making the decorations and favors for Eli's party didn't help my stamina, but neither did the hills and uneven ground we were running on.  I ended up walking more than half of the race--no need to wear myself out completely before Eli's party.  It was cool, though and I'm glad I did it.

That same afternoon we had Eli's Curious George birthday party.  In a poor attempt to save money I decided it would be fun to make all of the decorations for the party and sorta make the favors.  I have to admit that I was pretty impressed with my skills.  In total I made 20+ invitations, I personalized the favor pails with the name of each kid attending the party--they included bubbles, play dough, Curious George pencils, Curious George books, and candy--I made cupcake toppers and an awesome birthday banner thanks to my handy Cricut.  My dad brought over his canopy so we could have some shaded seating and I decorated with red and yellow table cloths.  We served pizza for the kids and chicken salad croissants for the adults with fresh fruit and vegetables and lots of cold drinks.  It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun.  I only took a few pictures with my camera and they are crappy, but my neighbor got some great ones that I will post when I get them. 


After the race

The cupcake 'cake'. 

The personalized pail favors for the kids.

 It makes me mad that this is so dark, but this is the whole set-up showing the banner and everything.

 Eli opening presents

 Help from big brother, Isaac

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELI!

{Fun In The Sun}

In June my wonderful backyard neighbor, Lauren, invited us to play in the water in the backyard.  The boys had a blast!  They love playing with Cannon and all of his great toys.  It took Isaac a little while, but he got the hang of running and sliding on the slip-n-slide.  Later that day we had a Ward BBQ at the splash park in our neighborhood.  Isaac loved every minute of it, but Eli was too intimidated by the shooting water to dare go in.  He still loved watching it spray, though and LOVED playing on the playground.

Isaac and Cannon playing in the Sand/Water table

Isaac and Cannon on the Slip-n-Slide
Little Eli.  Since he has no body fat the poor little guy was shivering most of the time.
Observing from a safe distance.

Loving the playground

Friday, September 24, 2010

{Memorial Day}

I'm slowly, but surely getting caught up on my blogging.  It's a lofty goal, but I am confident that I can get it done in the next few weeks now that my phone and computer have worked out all of their issues with each other! 

This year, on Memorial Day we visited the cemeteries, like we do each year.  This year we started at Daddy-Daddy's grave.  We lost him last September so this will be a new addition to our usual visits.  The battery on my camera died, so I didn't get any photos of that stop, but it was really cool.  We met up with Branigan, Julie & Beau and Tyler, Dolly, Jonathan & Dylan at the cemetery and waited for my Dad and Rondi, who brought pizza and drinks since we hadn't eaten.  Don't judge us for eating and having a nice little picnic--even though the signs said not to.  We were hungry and had a long day ahead of us. 

Next we went to Lakeview Memorial Cemetery in Bountiful to visit the graves of my Mom and Jarrod.  It was beautiful as usual, and my dad made it look even better when he whipped out his trimmer and edger, fired it up and went to town on the grass around the markers. I'm sure that no one noticed the humming of the gas-powered machines on this peaceful day.  Hee, hee!  My Grandma and Grandpa Jefferies joined us later and we had a nice visit.  Memorial Day is always an emotional day for me.  I miss my mom so much.  I still catch myself reaching for the phone to call her and ask her about a recipe or to tell her about something happening in my life.  And Jarrod...I mean, who wouldn't miss him?  Even though I had my doubts while growing up, he was a pretty great brother and I miss his loud laugh and control-freak tendencies.  He was a fabulous uncle to Isaac and I'm sad that he isn't here to know Eli. Here are some pictures of our day...

Jarrod's marker--with the golf ball that Eli kept wanting to play with.

 My Mom's marker--thanks for making it look so great Rondi and Dad!

Jonathan and Dylan playing 'tag' and Eli escaping--his usual Method of Operation.

Sweet Julie standing by the cars where little Beau was napping.

Tyler and Grandpa Jefferies

 Us
  
Rondi, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa Jefferies

    Jonathan, Isaac and Dylan

Thursday, September 23, 2010

{Murray City Fire Department}

Back in late May I was able to take Isaac to a fire station in Murray. They let him climb all over the trucks and push the siren. We also got to eat hotdogs and potato chips with the firemen. It was a great day--even though it was chilly and rainy.

Next to the ambulance

The front of the fire truck

Driving the fire truck

Checking out the hoses and levers

{Last Day of Preschool}

The last day of Preschool this year was a "Circus" day. All of the teachers and directors were dressed as clowns and they had balloons everywhere! It's sad that my little Isaac is growing up and will start Kindergarten this year. He really liked Mrs. Ketterer and all of his preschool friends. He learned a lot and we are thrilled that he was able to attend such a great preschool!

Isaac and Mrs. Ketterer

Isaac and his blue balloon

Isaac and Mrs. Romig

Monday, August 16, 2010

{Party Like You're 90!}

On May 15, 2010 we celebrated my Grandpa Jefferies' 90th birthday! It was a fum BBQ in his backyard with all of the cousins, Aunts and Uncles. The kids were able to run around and play and we were able to eat some great food!


Rondi and Grandpa getting ready to open some presents!



The family running and playing in the GREAT yard!

Cute Isaac

{Mother's Day}

Mother's Day was crazy again this year! I love it though! After early-morning Church we went to Brunch with my family to celebrate Mother's Day with Rondi, Julie, Dolly and me. We decided to try the Gathering Place at Gardener Village this year. We ended up having to sit outside--which wouldn't have been a big deal if they didn't have a cute little stream running through it making my kids go nuts if we tried to make them sit and eat. It was beautiful though, and I have to thank my dad--Grandpa Brad--for making the sacrifice of sitting facing the sun so that the kids could be in the shade. It was a gorgeous day.

We then went over to David's mom's house for a nice dinner with the family. There were a lot of kids running around and Isaac had a blast! Eli wasn't sure what to make of it, but we had a good time. David and the boys gave me a beautiful necklace with Isaac and Eli's names engraved with a charm of their birthstones attached. I LOVE it! Here is a picture of a similar necklace since I didn't take a picture of mine. We gave both David's mom and Rondi their own necklaces with the names of all of their grandkids engraved on each of them. Happy Mother's Day to all! I can't tell you how grateful I am to be a mom to Isaac and Eli. I can't imagine my life without them. They bring me so much joy and love. I love you boys!




This is similar to my necklace--although mine have a green and purple birthstones and the names of my kids on them. Love it!


Dolly, Dylan and Jonathan

Julie and Beau

Eli with a soul patch of chocolate--yum!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

{Little Fish}

Isaac started swimming lessons again in April. He did two sessions this year instead of three because poor Eli was having a hard time watching. By the end of the 45 minute class he was miserable and I was trying everything--even candy--to try to keep him happy. All he wanted to do was get in the pool with Isaac. Poor guy.

Isaac LOVES swimming and he is a lot better than last year. I'm so proud of him. I feel like of all of the sports a kid could be involved in, swimming is the most important because it can save their lives. Not that Isaac is a great swimmer at this point, but he is getting better and better all the time. Here are the pictures I took of swimming this year.

Last day of session 1. He got to go on the big slide.


Class time.

One of Eli's better days. This was before he decided to start throwing his toys and binky's in the pool--I'm sure he thought, "If I can't get in, at least my toys can." LOL!

I SO wish this pic wasn't so blurry! I LOVE this expression. I wonder what he was thinking?

Saturday, June 12, 2010

{The Big Race}

Back at the beginning of the year I let some friends convince me to run a 5K in April as part of the Salt Lake Marathon. A 5K? Me? Now, I know what you might be thinking...have they seen how out of shape Tara is? Funny. I was thinking the same thing. Blah. So, I sort of recruited my cousin BreeAnn to undertake this challenge with me, and I have to say that I wouldn't have been able to do it without her. We motivated each other and it was awesome. My best buds Kelli, Jen and Lori were running too, but Kelli did the FULL marathon and Lori and Jenn did the HALF marathon. I am telling you--what an incredible experience watching them all come in. I also have to mention that my rockstar sister-in-law, Julie kicked some serious butt in the half marathon as well! Anywho, here are photos of the BIG race. I was terrified and even though I didn't run as long as I'd hoped to, I still got my best time for going 3.1 miles. Yay, me! Next year I'm gonna do the half marathon. There. I said it--now I have to do it!

Oh yeah, the night before the race Lori, Jen, Kelli and I had a pasta dinner party. We had super yummy food and Kelli made the awesomest (is that a word?) cupcakes I've ever seen! They looked like spaghetti and meatballs!

BreeAnn and me waiting at the starting line.

Still waiting.

Off we go!

Right after the race--please excuse the red and shiny faces--we just ran our first 5K!

My 'girls'. Lori, Kelli, Me and Jen

The spaghetti cupcakes.

{Easter 2010}

Easter this year was a lot of fun. Even though I was terrible at remembering to take pictures of everything (like the boys in their Easter church outfits). The night before Easter we colored eggs. Yeah, we waited to do it until after Eli was in bed because we just knew it would spell disaster if we attempted to let him 'help'. Maybe we're bad parents for leaving him out of this part of our Easter tradition, but we would rather call ourselves smart for doing it. You can form your own opinion. Hee, hee! Anyway David and I pretty much let Isaac color them all. We had to do a BYU egg--it was a requirement, and I think it turned out pretty cute. It's hard to draw a Y on a while egg using a white crayon, but I have skills.

Easter morning Isaac found all of the hidden Easter eggs before Eli found them and decided they were balls. We had to help Isaac a little, but he did awesome. Then we let them open their baskets filled with candy, video games, books, toys and snacks. Oh, and Isaac's new swimming goggles--see pic below. We topped the day off with a wonderful Easter dinner at David's mom's house. Mmmmm. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter, too!