May Randoms

Ollie in need of a serious spit bath!

"Noogie!!!"

Ollie giving Jaren a wedgie... and interestingly enough... Jaren didn't seem to mind.

Finny at Grandma and Grandpa Palmer's

A budding artist

A rootin' tootin' scootin' man...

Since Eden was in desperate need of a new bike this year, we used some of Oliver's money to buy him a scooter, since he can no longer balance on a bicycle. One of the many things he can no longer do. :O( We found a scooter with three wheels so there will be more balance. Helmet on and he was ready to roll! And roll he did, all around our neighbor's front lawn! ;o) He fell, but he kept getting back up. That's my boy... nothing keeps him down for long! He's so handsome. I was sitting outside reading a book while Finny napped inside and Jaren and Oliver were playing in the front yard. We listened to the birds chirping and enjoyed the nice sunny day. Simple pleasures. :O)

Handsome boy

Ollie and Bear

Jare Bear

I had to include this picture. A few houses down there was a sofa on the front lawn, Jaren looks down there and excitedly shouts, "Hey... there's a ZEBRA!!!" Too funny!

The moon. Can you tell I love taking pics of the moon? :O)

Oh... I need to fix those handlebars! Doesn't seem to get in his way!

On the neighbors lawn again! :O)

This gives the readers a peek into what a ham this kid is!

Mother's Day

Today was Mother's Day and Jaren picked out some yellow mums for me the day before. We also received a nice CD at church which I LOVED! I can never get enough Sunday music to listen to. We were happy to be able to spend time with each of our mothers and hope that they know how much we love them and appreciate all that they do for us... especially with our circumstances. I'm so blessed to live near them and to have a good relationship with each of them. One of our many blessings. Another blessing that I have is having Ed's brother, Danny and his wife, Jamie and my nephew, Carson living nearby. They come over often and have not only been a great source of help and strength, but of plain old fun. It's nice spending time with family and enjoying each other's company, especially because they get our crazy sense of humor! Ed and Danny are a lot alike and it's so funny to watch them together, especially when they get to laughing at something. They usually are both laughing at the same parts of a movie. It makes me smile to hear them laughing! I am blessed beyond belief to be a mother. This mother's day I realize that kids are a gift to us. We are their mothers and are to raise and instruct them so they may stand up for what is right in this wicked world. It is always amazing listening to the talks on Mother's Day Sundays. It buoys me up and I know that I'm not alone in this task of being a mom. There are a lot of us trying to figure it all out and finding the joy in our posterity. WE.ARE.BLESSED.

I didn't get a picture of the kids and me, which I wanted, but everyone races to get their Sunday closes off and into more comfortable attire. I did happen to snap this one of Jamie and Carson. Such a great picture of the two of them. Jamie is due with a baby girl on June 12th! We are so excited!

And of course, we couldn't have a serious picture without a silly one beneath it.
"Carson Libre"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's ready to rumble!

A Special Visitor

Chris Hair, or Elder Hair as we knew him before, came back to visit us as he was in Illinois for his sister's wedding in Nauvoo and wanted to visit some people he met while serving his mission here in Iowa, our family being some of those people. We had him over for lunch and chatted with him while the kids loved wrestling and playing ball outside with him. I truly enjoy seeing the missionaries again and visiting with them. Thanks for taking the time to come and see us!

Finn and Chris

"Go, web, go!"

Tired little man

LL Cool J

Grandma & Grandpa Boardsen's

Ollie has been asking me to go to Grandma and Grandpa's so we set up a time to roast some hot dogs for dinner and let the kids play. Aunt Lindsey was there with her little boy, Dexter, who chased Jaren around all night. It was fun to see them all play together! They ran around the yard playing with a kite, rolled down a hill in the grass, took a ride in Grandpa's tractor, played at the park, ate hot dogs and sat by the fire. Too bad Eden still had school the next day so we had to cut it short and miss out on roasting marshmallows! Summer... here we come!!!

Dexter, Eden and Ollie

Joey and Finny watching the kids.

The 'lawnmower man'...

"It's not easy bein' cheesy!"

Going for a ride in the trailer. Little did they know that they couldn't make it back up the hill in the back yard! Also, Ellen, my step mom and Lindsey, my step sister and I were watching them riding to the park a ways away and we saw them hit a bump and fly up in the air. We were laughing so hard as it reminded us of a scene from 'Due Date' where one of the main characters hits a bump in the road and his friend in the back of the truck goes flying up into the air and slams back down into the truck bed. Ahhhhhh... guess you had to be there! ;o)

Eden, Finny, Dexter, Jaren -- with his 'Batman' cape which is actually a vampire cape. He's really been into superheroes lately... Batman and Spiderman!

Aunt Lindsey getting in on all the fun!

Oliver kept asking, "Can we go for a ride, yet???" I knew he was itchin' to drive it rather than ride it!

'Ring Around the Rosie' -- Love Bear's cape!

Warming up the tootsies by the fire

GORGEOUS sunset in my dad's backyard

Odds and 'Eds' ;o)

On a trip to Menards for some 'fix-it' items for the house we ran across this GINORMOUS lounge chair. Ed's feet didn't even touch the ground! He looks like a little kid!! :O)