I'm "cruisin" to get things done

before we leave and my dear,

sweet, husband says......

"Nicole it's not that hard, you just grab a bag throw some underwear and a swimsuit in and you're good to go".

Uh Yeah, I wish it was that easy. Husbands will NEVER get the preparation it takes to go out of town........packing 3 kids, myself, power of attorneys signed, scheduling babysitters, cleaning house, garbage out, flowers watered, school and homework assignments returned, money in their lunch accounts, and the list goes on.........

Anyway we're out of here~Ships Ahoy!

We've got UTAH written all over us!

One of neighbors came in my house today and was looking at this picture (this old picture) and was shocked at how much we look alike, me and my siblings.....she goes "Is that like a Mormon thing or something, to look so much alike, and do yall all have blonde hair and blue eyes, cuz all yall Mormons do"? I thought it was pretty funny and maybe a little true.

(this pic was blurry to begin with, and scanning it made it worse.)

I LOVE THIS!

My blogging buddy Jill had this on her blog and I had to steal it and share. This is so much fun. I would have loved to have been a guest at this wedding ceremony.

(make sure to pause the music on my playlist

before you start the video)

Cara's First Day of Kindergarten
How come it is that as Mom's we can't wait for the day that our kids go to school and then once they do our emotions are all over the place. I guess it just shows how attached we really are to these little ones. Cara was so excited for her first day of school. The school is in our backyard so she's been looking up there and anticipating this day for a long time. She has Mrs. Lavelle and all we've heard is wonderful things about her. I never worry about Cara when it comes to taking new steps in her life. She is such a beautiful, confident, outgoing, social butterfly. I wish I could be more like this little princess of mine. Is she not the cutest thing!

My new obsession~I love it!

So yesterday my friend Lisa and I could not find Cara and her son Tyler. We decided to walk to the end of the cove and there they were...hanging like monkeys from the neighbors tree swing. This girl has no fear. If you look closely she's hanging on for dear life, but enjoying every moment of it. This girl has more energy than I can handle!

(you can't tell, but she's at least 10 feet off the ground)

Today was Carson's first day of school. He's going into 4th grade. His teacher is Mrs. Petersen and we don't know one single thing about her so hopefully what we don't know won't hurt us. It's hard when you don't grow up in an area because you're clueless when it comes to the faculty of a school. Carson is a good kid though and I think he'll do just fine. I can't believe he's a big 4th grader. I swear that was the year I started noticing boys....scary!

This is Carson with his best buddy Zack Collier. It's funny how Carson actually worried about what he was wearing on the first day of school. It had to be his new Hurley shirt and the grey shorts he picked out at Target. I never realized how expensive it was to start school. I have to hand it to my Mom for always making sure we looked nice. I hope I can do the same!

Yikes, look at all of those books. Hope he's ready!

Celebrating 12 years together!

Dave and I celebrated 12 years together yesterday. It's crazy how fast time has flown. I can actually say marriage has gotten better with time. I think we've done pretty good at figuring this "marriage thing" out so far. I can definitely say Dave is my one and only BFF. I think I really need to Congratulate Dave for putting up with me for 12 years. I know I can be difficult at times. We've decided to celebrate our anniversary with a cruise at the end of the month. We've NEVER been on a cruise and we're so excited. I get so motion sick so hopefully I'm not in our cabin puking the whole time. I think we're gonna have a blast. Here's to 12 more years!

It was the most special moment~My Grandpa pulled all of his granddaughters into the living room and presented us all with these beautiful diamond necklaces. The diamonds in these necklaces came from the tennis bracelet that my Grandma Mare wore often. My Grandpa wanted to do something special with her bracelet and I can say for sure that this will definitely be a gift I will cherish always. I love these girls. I've been so blessed to have these GORGEOUS girls in my life. I think my Grandma would have been so pleased to know that her bracelet went to her granddaughters. Thanks a million Papa! We love you.

(My cousins, sisters, and I wearing our necklaces above)