This will take a while to load... LOTS of Pictures - Collage Style!

So I think I've sort of figured out the whole COLLAGES thing on Picasa (have you tried this? Do you like it? I've just started, so tell me - what am I missing?) And I've kind of been having fun with it... Maybe a little TOO MUCH fun... Here is a post with LOTS of collages of events over the last few weeks... :)

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We had a friend party for Archer's
'Big 5 Birthday'...

And when Grandpa Sherrill came home from Arizona to visit, he brought more presents -
A Red Ryder BB Gun and Mighty Mac the Train!

The boys showed off for Grandpa Sherrill by beating the crap out of each other.
I've been told that is what ALL boys do, but I have to wonder...

But I do know what girls like - Robyn and I had a girls morning. We went shopping, then came home and gave ourselves a pedicure!

My kids have LOTS of energy, so it's not uncommon to find them passed out somewhere - like the car, couch, my bed or in the middle of their pizza!

Archer has decided that he likes his picture taken...

And Robyn LOVES it! She'll even pose!
Gotta LOVE her wild fly-away hair!

We've been playing outside a lot,
which means riding in Lightning McQueen!

And playing at the park!
(look at my little monkey!)

We were happy that Grandpa Sherrill was able to come home for a visit. He even had cousin Kaylee with him! The girls tend to fight over who's Grandpa he really is... :)

Robyn was playing with her little friend and got 'bonked' in the eye... It was instantly purple. These pictures are from the day after...

Even with a black eye, she is a little (posing) princess.

(Thanks for letting us borrow the dress, Angie!)

Lately I have been loving digging in the dirt. Maybe my inner child is coming out. Or my inner boy! But I've loved it. I've weeded most of my front garden, some of my back garden areas, some of the dirt hill and even some of my MOM's side garden! While weeding my mom's, I stole some of her 'chicks and hens' - their technical name is Sempervivum tectorum but really, no one knows that! I've replanted them around one of my trees at my house...

Anyway, on to another BUSY week

so I'm sure I will be back with more soon!

**Plus, I have a few pictures that were single pictures that were great that I'm going to have to share!

Um... I forgot?

You know when you have one of those days where you are pretty sure it's special but you can't remember why? Or you think you have something going on, but you don't remember what or when? Yeah. Whoops.

April 19th.

Does that date mean anything to anyone out there in blog world?
How about April 19, 2007?
No?

Yeah. It's my little family's sealing date. As in sealed in the temple. As in Anniversary of sorts. And I forgot. Totally spaced it. I was feeling all spiritual and happy and sappy romantic-y for a little bit. I kept thinking - there is something going on today but I don't remember what. I checked Facebook to see if it was anyone special's birthday and I was forgetting it or something. Nope. Not on there.

Just as I was falling asleep late Monday night / Tuesday morning, it hit me. I, then, hit Jeremiah and said - 'You forgot our anniversary.' He was asleep so he was a little groggy and awnry and said - 'No I didn't, you idiot. It's in September. Go to bed. You're dreaming.'

Ah, love.

Our little family after our sealing on April 19th, 2007
(Robyn was in the belly)

Our little eternal family now
(well, Nov. 28, 2009, actually)

* * * * *

I love my little family and am super grateful for Jimmy and his late night talks with Jeremiah about life, church and the temple. I'm thankful for Kirk for never giving up on our family and our eternal goal. I'm thankful for Sheri and Amanda and their 'inspiration' to give me a calling in Primary. I'm thankful for Joseph Smith and for his life that he gave for his beliefs. And I'm thankful for Jesus Christ and the Atonement.

If you want to know more about my religion, check it out at www.lds.org

Spring Break 2010

Jeremiah's mom rented a condo in Mesquite from April 4th til April 11th and invited us to spend the boys Spring Break with her, Jessica (Jeremiah's sister) and Draysen (Jessica's son, my nephew). Since we didn't have any plans and a get-away to somewhere warm is always tempting (especially when it's snowing at home!), we went and had a great time. :) Jeremiah couldn't go with us because he just got a new job (Utah Timber Frames) and started on the day after we left. YAY and BOO. :) Here's the rundown on the trip and some fun pictures to remember it by...

SUNDAY

We started the vacation on Easter. Jeremiah's aunt Karri came over to Jeremiah's parents house with her kids and we had an Easter Egg hunt. :) I didn't take too many pictures, but here are a few...

After the Easter Egg Hunt, we ate some great food and headed to Mesquite. We all piled into Sandra's Pilot - don't ask me how we fit everything because I still have NO idea! The weather was windy, but warm. We picked up some groceries for our stay and went back to the hotel for an easy night.

MONDAY

The next morning, the kids were begging to go down to the pool. We tried to tell them it was super windy and cold and that they really didn't want to be down there, but they insisted. Sandra and I took them down to feel the pool water. That didn't work. Draysen jumped right in and my boys were trying to follow. :) So, with the kids in their street clothes (except Tanion who went back to the room to change), they all played in the water for a little while - the wind blowing the whole time. :)

That afternoon, we made a trip to St. George. It was windy and rainy in St. George, so we played inside at a Dinosaur Museum... It wasn't like the one at Thanksgiving Pointe. This one was more informational and showed you things like Dinosaur tracks. Archer and Robyn thought it would be more fun to just run around and try to climb on the actual excavation dig sites. Yeah. A panic attack later and we were sitting in the car waiting for everyone else to be done.

TUESDAY

Tuesday brought sun and a semi-warm (mostly cool) pool. We played in the pool a little but spent most of the time in the hot tub (which was really a warm tub). We just took it easy that day - played at the pool some, went back up to the room for a while, went back down to the pool. Ah, vacation life is tough... Here are some pictures of the kiddos - all ready to head down to the pool. :)
I can tell you that something scary happened. It was time to come back up to the room and Robyn was over by the gate, waiting for me. I ask Sandra to keep an eye on her while I go over to the boys and see if they want to come back and to get towels. Mind you, I was already IN my swimsuit cover-up type dress. The second I turn around, I hear Sandra saying "Robyn! Robynson! Robyn!" I turn around to see Robyn babbling about something, not watching where she was going and walk (fall) straight into the pool. Picture Sandra and I both on a dead run, me reaching the pool area first, JUMPING IN and grabbing Robyn (just out of 3ft, but still!) - trying to pull her out of the water but my swimsuit cover-up dress thingy is over her head. The whole thing lasted maybe a whole 5 seconds, but life really does move in slow motion when you are scared to death.

Robyn was totally fine. She coughed a little, cried for maybe 2 seconds and then started telling us about a spider. I'm guessing she saw a bug, was worried it was going to get her so she didn't take her eyes off of it, and then she fell in the pool. The rest of the trip, she was telling everyone who would listen "I fell in the water!"
WEDNESDAY

Just like the rest of the days, we started Wednesday with swimming at the pool (and hot tub). We were generally at the pool a few times each day, actually. :) We stayed at the pool until after lunch time. Then we decided to go play on the grassy area of the condo area. Archer and Robyn had a fun time looking for blowy flowers (dead dandelions) and pine cones. DarTanion and Draysen would chase each other for a while, then get bored and just sit down. I rented Astro Boy for the kids to watch after dinner (they really liked it). Just another fun, relaxing day. :)

THURSDAY

April 8th (Thursday) was Archer's birthday. Since we were in Mesquite, I decided I would let him celebrate however he wanted to. Well, that meant bowling. We went bowling over at the Virgin River (I think!). Everyone seemed to have a fun time. :) Then Sandra traded in money for coins in the arcade for the kids. They played for about another hour in there and each got a little sack of goodies off of the tickets they won. After bowling and the arcade, we got some pizza, cake and ice cream and headed back to the hotel. We sang to Archer (who HATES when people sing - especially to him), ate dinner and took it easy. :)

FRIDAY

On Friday, we did the usual morning swim and then headed to St. George. Sandra wanted to check out a few fabric stores, so Jessica and I packed a lunch and went to a 'park' with the kids. It was actually the St. George town square and they have lots of different ways to get wet in 'not scary pool-like' waters. My kids LOVED it. They wanted to know if there was one in Provo, too. :) I actually really liked it there too. We ended up staying there for around 4 hours! Afterward, we met up with my Aunt Candy and her family (who live in St. George) for dinner at IHOP (kids eat free with the purchase of an adult meal!). Dinner was good, but it was really great to see Candy and family. :) {Thanks for coming! We love you guys!}

SATURDAY

The realization that this was our last full day in the sun made me kind of sad. I had enjoyed getting my sunburn in St. George - even though I know it would be gone with no sign of ever having one by Sunday afternoon. Instead of going to the pool by the condo, we went to the CasaBlanca pools across the street. Can I just say how much I LOVED their pool!? It wasn't cold, there was a water slide and a water fall, lots of room to sit and tan or enjoy the shade AND they had a place to get drinks. HEAVEN! :) We hung out there all morning on Saturday. I tortured Robyn and Archer by making them swim instead of just hang out on the side of the pool (I know, I'm mean). Then Jessica took both DarTanion and Robyn down the water slide at different times - I went down it with Robyn right as we got there and dropped my glasses (and Robyn) in the water. No worries, though. We found them both. :) It was after 2pm when my DarTanion and Archer both insisted they were starving TO DEATH and Robyn fell asleep in my arms. I asked Sandra if she could take us back to our room so we could have lunch. Sandra took us back, but then her, Jessica and Draysen stayed at the CasaBlanca til almost 6pm! Everyone had some sort of sunburn after Saturday. :)

SUNDAY

Sandra woke up bright and early on Sunday and we all got to packing our things and getting them back in the car. I had packed a few things the night before so that Sunday morning wouldn't take as long, but it still took a good hour and a half! We finally all got loaded in the car and by some miracle were able to drive straight from Mesquite to Provo without a bathroom break! (I was shocked!) We listened to a book on tape (Don't Cry Wolf) for most of the ride home and since we were missing a few discs and because I had to leave before it was done, I have now borrowed the book from the library. It's pretty good, so far. :)

It is good to be home, back to my computer, my blogs, my FaceBook, my house, my hubby! It's good to be back into our routine and back to basically normal.

BIG, HUGE THANKS TO GRANDMA SANDRA HARDMAN FOR TAKING US WITH YOU AND LETTING US HAVE LOTS OF FUN!!! WE LOVE YOU!

Archer Moe is 5.

I love my Archer Montgomery.

:) Archer's a great kid. April 8th is his special day and since we were in Mesquite without internet access (not to mention none of my FABULOUS pictures) on his BIG 5 birthday, I am doing a little post dedicated to my little man. :)

Here are 5 things everyone
should know about my little guy.

1. Archer is CUTE. And he knows it. He will use his cuteness for evil, trains, or fast food - and I will fall for it every time. And he knows it. And I know it. And neither of us care.


2. Archer LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine. He can tell you pretty much anything about any of the trains. Don't believe me? Come check out his collection and let him tell you stories. Or check out our movie collection. I think we have most all of the movies / trains / etc...


3. Archer loves animals of all kinds. He sleeps with 'Kitty' and other random stuffed animals. He loves visiting Grandma Bagley's house to see all of her animals. She has kitties, dogs, cows, horses, sheep, etc. But, he's scared of chickens. :)


4. Archer is SNEAKY! He will watch for you to NOT watch him and then he'll do as he pleases. This could mean run out of the yard or the playground. This could also mean raid the candy cupboard (or the stash of birthday party candy). It could also mean that he will soon reappear, dressed in a Spiderman Floaty Swimsuit (or some other completely random outfit). :) Possibly with a new hair cut, too. :)


5. Archer can play for HOURS by himself. He likes to play with friends, but the boy is perfectly content to play by himself with his trains or the XBOX.


I tried to do a cute collage on my photo program of only 16 of my favorite Moe pictures, but it wouldn't let me (ie. I couldn't figure it out)...


SO, here is one with 1232 pictures of him. Isn't he a cutie pie? :)

Birthdays and such.

Well, it's officially happened. My 30th birthday has come and gone and there wasn't any horrible, life ending events that occurred. Actually, it was kind of fun. :)

We started celebrating the day before. Robyn stole my spot in bed with Jeremiah on March 28 / 29 because there was a spider on her wall, which I killed. Still, she refused to sleep in her room. When I went in my room after she had fallen asleep to move her to her room, I thought it was too tender to disturb. I slept half the night on the couch (until Archer kicked me off) and the other half in Robynson's room. :)

After school on the 29th, DarTanion agreed to go to the movie with me. :) We went and saw The Diary of a Wimpy Kid (which even though it's a kids movie / book series, I still really like it!). It was my 'present' from DarTanion. :) Which cost me $29!

After the movie, we took Archer and Robyn to my mom's house to spend the night. Tanion couldn't because he had school on Tuesday, so he came back home with us. But while at my mom's house, the kids went a little crazy... They were jumping off of my mom's couches on to the little kid couch. DarTanion was trying to do flips and spins. Yeah. My kids aren't really scared of anything! I did get some good pictures of it, though!

On Tuesday (my actual birthday), Jeremiah got called off of work (which he's actually been off all week and doesn't start til next Monday, now). So I was able to sleep in til a whole 8:30am. I woke up and ate some food and went back to sleep. :) Then I woke up around 11am, showered and got dressed and went out with my Angie to the Olive Garden for lunch and to see the movie Alice in Wonderland. It was great to actually go in public with a friend without our kids. :) We could actually eat our food while it was hot and enjoy each others company without having to yell at someone to be nice. :)

While I was at the movies, Jeremiah picked up the kids from my mom's house AND made me 2 cakes (German Chocolate with Coconut Pecan frosting and Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting because that's what I told him I wanted). Also, we had a pork roast cooking all night that he shredded and added BBQ sauce to that was TO DIE FOR! Did I mention he picked up a big container of Cafe Rio House Salad Dressing? The stuff I LOVE??? Yep. He did. :) Some of our friends and family (all of Jeremiah's siblings, actually) came over and had cake and ice cream with us. The kids had fun playing with their friends, too... :) I have great friends. :) I got cash (which is always wonderful), a cute wood saying about service, the 2nd Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, some make your own popsicle things (which I've been looking for everywhere!) and a cute figuring reading a book.

My birthday was awesome. :)

Today, DarTanion came home from school with his reading prize. They have 'milestones' in his reading program and when they meet the milestone, they get to pick a book to keep. He got the 3rd Diary of a Wimpy Kid book as his prize. He told me "Sorry it's a little late, Mom, but happy birthday" and "You don't even have to return it to the Library!" and "I got this special for you"... Can I say that is totally precious!?! I love that little guy!

And we were going to celebrate Archer's birthday today with his friends, but 2 of the 3 families that were going to come have sick kids, so we postponed it until we get back from vacation. Since we canceled his party, I asked him if he wanted to go on a date with me. We went to Kmart to see what trains they have and to find something for an Easter present for each kid. He saw the Jacob (from Twilight / New Moon) barbie and said "Mom! Do you want a half naked man for Easter?" :) HAHA!!! LOVE IT!!!


Then we went to the library and checked out 3 Thomas books and 2 Thomas movies. Afterward, we went out for ice cream at Baskin-Robbins. I had a coupon for a free scoop for my birthday and a kids scoop is only $2. We even ate it there. :) 'Kitty' joined us on every stop of our date for the night. :) He had a great time doing things that really don't cost much money and just being able to bring his 'Kitty' with us. :) By the way, Kitty didn't like the cookie dough ice cream, so Archer had to eat it all. :)

Can I just say that I love one-on-one dates with my kids? And I love it when their sweet spirit shines through. :) They are such little sweet hearts and I love them. They made my 'uhgggg, I'm getting old' birthday a good experience. :)