Abigail rides a horse

 Abigail has been DYING to ride a horse.  It started at Christmas, when the doll she received came with a horse book.  Then we started reading the Little House series, and she became even more in love with horses.  We have some that live in the field by our house and she would beg to ride them.

  Grandma Sharla searched for a place, and got Abigail a horse ride.  When Sharla told her, she jumped up and hugged her for a long time.  I think she was trying not to cry, she was so happy. 

 

 

The man that was in charge of taking the kids around was named Terry and he was the most friendly guy.  He showed the kids how to saddle and take care of the horses.

 

 

 

 

They got to try out two ponies.  The one Abigail is riding was named Queen Elizabeth.  The kids liked her the most because she liked to be a bit wild.

 

Luke's riding Charlie

 

 

Carly was super excited for her turn, and not a bit nervous.

 Hailey loves her Grandpa Larry

 Hailey's turn!  She was NOT excited... obviously.  She clung to me.

 I let go and acted excited about it, hoping she would also be excited.

 She was not

 

All better

 

Abigail is in love.  She asks when we're going to buy her a horse...

 Cute baby horses

This was the place that we went to.  They were awesome and the kids loved it.

 

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for such a fun day!

 

p.s. Ben was here too, he decided to be the picture taker that day.



Abigail's kindergarten graduation- May 2013



This school year went by SO fast!  Abigail loved kindergarten.  Whenever she had a day off, she was sad that she couldn't see her teacher.  Mrs. Jennings is the sweetest teacher, and was so good to Abigail. She couldn't wait for her graduation, she kept telling me how much they were practicing their songs, and how good they sounded.

 

beautiful Ab and her beautiful grandmas

 

 

She told me she was a little nervous to be in front of all these people, but she hummed a primary song to make her feel better.

 



I love this girl!

 



with her awesome teacher, Mrs. Jennings.

 



Abigail was really lucky to have her 2nd cousin, Jenna, in her class this year.  They are only 2 weeks apart, they look so much a like, and they're good little pals.

 



 

Abigail and her good friend Kaitlynn

Mother's Day 2013

 

 What  a great Mother's Day I had this year.  Ben's amazing, and he made it so fun.  My kids also surprised me with how much they looked forward to and planned for Mother's Day. 

A few days before, I heard Abigail whisper to Ben, "Are you prepared for Mother's Day?!"  Every time we were at the store together, she was trying to pick stuff out for me.  I told her that Dad would bring her if she wanted him to.  She was so excited when they all came home from shopping.  The night before she said, "Mom, you have to wear some real pajamas to bed, not just your underclothes! But I can't tell you why."  She woke up super early the next morning to get Ben up to get breakfast in bed for me.  She's such a sweet girl, and always so thoughtful!

 

 Ab is currently in love with t-ball, so she wanted a picture with her bat.

I am so blessed to be a mother to these sweet kids.

 

Life just keeps getting better and better

 

 

 

 

Luke- field trip and bobcat

 Luke's 2nd grade class got to go to the dinosaur park this month.  The kids had a fun time and learned a lot.  The two boys in Luke's group were awesome little kids (all the kids in his class are awesome... I seriously love hanging out with these kids), and very well behaved.  Last year I got stuck with some wild kids everytime I went on Luke's field trips... so I was really excited. 

We were walking on that little 'mystery trail' that goes through the trees, the kids were laughing and looking for dinosaurs... they were just approaching one, when I said "Roarrrr!"  from behind them.  Luke is used to this behavior, he started to laugh.  The kid on the right jumped and gave me a frighted little chuckle.  The little guy on the left jumped really high and turned and stared... for a while... like "why old weird lady would you frighten a little kid like me?" 

Scaring each other is a big game at our house, we hide and jump out yelling... Abigail's the best at it.  I guess I need to remember that 'normal' families don't do it.  I have learned my lesson, I won't scare anymore kids at the dino park.

 

 I loved spending the day with Luke, he's so much fun!

 They're smiling, they weren't traumatized right?

 All the kids liked the playground the best... of course.  That's how I look at the dino park, just an  expensive place for the kids to play.

 

 

 Luke is loving scouts.  He couldn't wait until he was old enough to go.  He earned his bobcat award as quick as he could. 

He (I helped, obviously not wanting to get stabbed) pinned the Mom's pin on me... and I pinned his patch on him.  Now every night he opens his wolf book, looking for something to pass off.  I hope his enthusiasm lasts.

(Yes, Hailey is in her p.j.s and slippers... it's just easier to get baths for the little girls done before pack meeting, call me crazy, anything to make life easier)

April 2013

 I got to go with Abigail's kindergarten class to the Heritage center (I think that's what it's called) field trip in Logan.  Abigail couldn't get enough of the baby animals.  We were only there for an hour, so we had to hurry through everything.

 We thought this pregnant goat was pretty cool. 

 She talks about bunnys all the time now, hoping we'll get one.

 Abigail rode home with me, so we stopped at  Gossner's to get strawberry milk, and Kneaders for lunch.  It was a fun to have a day with just Ab.

 

 

 A couple of Saturdays ago, My Uncle Scott and Aunt Rose were in town from Texas.  As you can imagine with them living so far away, we don't see them much.  My Grandma Dixie wanted to have a mini reunion with everyone that could come.  It was hard to get everyone together, but we got most people there.  Scott and Rose had 2 out of 4 kids there, Diane had 2 out of 4 kids there, Marilyn and Mark had 3 out of 7 kids there, and my parents had 5 out of 6.  That's actually pretty amazing considering how we're all spread out.

 The kids had a great time meeting some of their 2nd cousins for the first time

 If you've been around the Carruth (this is my Mom's side we're talking about) family and my Grandma Dixie, you'll know we're the huggin'est people there ever was.  We all hug, even if we saw each other yesterday, we hug.  I love it, I feel so close to these people even if we only see each other a few times a year.

 My cousin, Nate, is on the left in the glasses.  The Tuesday after our reunion, Nate had an accident at work.  He fell from a building they were working on and died.  He's a great man with a big heart. He has a sweet wife, and 4 beautiful kids.  Everyone loved Nate, his funeral was evidence of that.  All we kept talking about at the funeral was how we were all so lucky that we were able to be together with him one last time as a family. 

 

HUG YOUR FAMILY

 

 My parents invited all of us for a movie night family home evening.  We went to the Lions Club and watched the Gnome Mobile.  It's a family favorite from way back when.  My kids loved it.

 My Mom had a popcorn, box of candy, and drink for all of us.  My kids were amazed that they each got to eat an entire box of candy and they didn't have to share.  It was hilarious.

 

 

I realize how lucky we are to live by both sides of our families, because I love every activity, get-together, and family party that we have.