Quarterly Birthday Party!

I have to say that I absolutely have the cutest grandparents in the world. Each year they do something different for our birthdays and each year they seem to out-do themselves. This year they have decided to do quarterly birthdays since our family is only getting bigger. So today we celebrated April-June birthdays. With it being hot weather they created a mini water park in their backyard. They have done this every year since I was little and it is always a blast. They have a large swimming pool set-up, a huge slippin slide with a pool to land in, and a kiddie pool that is shaded with an umbrella. Then on top of that there are beach balls and tubes all over the backyard. This is really the first year Gavin appreciated it, when he walked into the backyard he said, "wow, this is awesome!" The party started at 1:00 and the kids had to be pulled off at 7:00. They LOVED IT! Throughout this time we played in the water, we had delicious Grandma Tootsie cookin', we played games, and celebrated the birthdays for the months. So below are some of the pictures from the activities of the day!
Action photo of Gavin hitting the water.

Bre and Cole.

Gavin loving all the beach balls and tubes to jump into.

Bre hanging out in the boat. She is not a big fan of splashing!

Gavin going down the slippin slide.

Bre content with playing in the kiddie pool away from the big boys.

Gavin and Keaton going down!

Taking a break and eatin with the buddies!


After food and play we celebrated the birthday boys!
Each person whose birthday is celebrated at these parties is given a mini birthday cake. Then this year my grandma and grandpa decided that everyone is going to get new underwear! How sweet is that:)
Here is Gavin holding his mini birthday cake.

Ryan, Dylan, and Gavin blowing out their candles!

Gavin holding up his cool super hero underwear! Oh and they glow in the dark! BONUS!

After cake and ice cream we played some games.....

As long as I can remember my grandma and grandpa have created games for us to play. They haven't stopped and have acutally become quite creative! I am always amazed at what they come up with and believe me the kids & adults love them!
This game was dedicated to my nephew Dylan, we call him "Dill Pickles" so my grandma found a dill pickle that you play similar to hot potato. The person who won, received a huge jar of DILL PICKLES!

This game was dedicated to Gavin because he loves water balloons. This was played similar to hot potato as well, only a water balloon was placed in the machine which squished it until it popped!

This game was for my cousin Ryan, since he loves money. You had only one chance to roll and you wanted to roll a 7 or 11. If you did, you got a $2 dollar bill.

Benino was a winner!

This game was for the kiddies. My grandma found all kinds of random objects and threw them in a pool. She blindfolded each grandkid and gave them a net. They had to try to get as many objects in their net as possible. Once they pulled the net out of the water they were done. The top four who got the most won a prize. Gavin came in 2nd and won a pack of FLOAM.

If you ever need creative game ideas for parties, we have plenty!
Thank you Great-Grandma Tootsie and Great-Grandpa Tom for always making these days so fun and special. We love you!

Welcome baby Jordyn!

Congratulations Alli and Grant! My little sista finally had her little girl. We have been waiting for this little one to come into our family. Jordyn Pearl Hyland was born today at 12:39 pm, weighed in at 6 pounds 10 ounces, 19 inches long and just beautiful. They are thinking she may have strawberry blonde hair (taking after her aunt in a way:)) I am so excited for them and I know lil' Ms. Bre is anxious to have a girl cousin to play with. I love you guys!

A Day At The Zoo!

On Friday, Chad and I decided that we would head up to the Zoo. Chad had not been there in over 10 years and the kids absolutely love it. We invited Dave and Michelle to come with us. Going in the morning ended up being a great idea since it didn't get too hot until the afternoon and ended up not being too crowded. It was fun spending the day with the kids and our friends. Thanks Dave and Michelle for coming with us!

Here is Gaver riding the gorilla on the new carousel.

Breezy riding the hippo.

What a good looking family!

Chad and Gavin getting ready for the train ride!

Mommy and B's on the train!

Michelle and Emma

Bre and Emma checking out the turkeys

Gavin and Bre trying to get a closer look

Happy Daddy's Day Chad!

I just wanted to take some time and tell Chad what an amazing dad he is! Gaver's and B's absolutely adore him and love being with him. I know without a doubt that Gavin and Bre will learn and grow so much through his example and love. There have been countless times that I have come home from work and Chad is in Breezy's room playing kitchen or dressing up her babies or fighting bad guys and playing super heroes with Gavin. He always makes sure that the time he has with the kids counts. His family is number one! My favorite is when Gavin and I say our prayers, each time Gavin always blesses his daddy to be safe at work. They are always thinking about him! He is an inspiration to me, Gavin, and Bre. We are so lucky to have him in our lives and benefit from the amazing person that he is. Chad is my rock and I thank him for his unconditional love, his dedication to his family, and his way making sure we are not taking life too seriously. I hope that he has a Happy Father's Day, even if he is at work!
We love you!
Wee's, Gaver's and Bre's

Happy Father's day!

Happy Father's day to Laurey and Marvin!

I just love my dad so much. He has been my number one supporter my entire life. He had 3 girls that he would do anything for. We always knew that when mom said no that we could go and ask dad! He likes to try to act tough but we know that he is a big teddy bear. I am grateful that I was blessed enough to have him as my dad and Gaver's and B's love him as their Bompa. I know without a doubt that I would not be where I am today if it weren't for his love, support, and endless belief in me! Thanks dad for being a huge part of my life! I love you!

Marv is the best father-in-law that anyone could ask for. He is probably the hardest worker that I know and a genius when it comes to fixing really anything. He is such a softy when it comes to his grandkids and they love their Papa so much. I can definitely tell that Gavin is a Pate when he asks me if we can take apart his bike and put it back together! Marv is always concerned and will always be the first one to ask how things are going. I absolutely love how sweet and caring he is! Happy Father's Day Marv!

A fun day of fishing!

This year Chad has to work almost every holiday, so we are starting to celebrate them a little early. On Friday, we decided that we would take the kids fishing and have some fun. There is a fun little fishing pond and park in Herriman that was close enough and easy to access. This little pond is perfect! We struggled in the fishing department because we realized that we had bought the crushed shrimp and it kept flying off everytime we would cast. However, if you ask Gavin he will tell you that we did catch some seaweed, just no fish! After fishing we took Gaver's and B's over to the park to play. They had a blast of course playing on the toys. We ended a little early because some kids from another party decided that it was okay to include us in their water fight! Overall, we had a good time spending a day as a family.

I was afraid these guys were going to get a fishing hook in the back!
Bre loves the slides!
Gavin showing off his fishing skills. He was explaining how to cast.
Gavin showing some love towards his sister.
Chad trying to figure out a way to get the shrimp to stay on!
Bre showing off her dancing skills. Not into the whole fishing thing!
Gavin climbing high like Spiderman!

Happy Birthday Gavin!!!!

A little late but that's okay! My little guy turned 4 on Sunday! We had both mine and Chad's families over for a little party and he had a great time. Gavin made sure that everyone who came through our door had a present for him. He was so excited for this day to come and as you can see, he was not disappointed.

Gavin with Nana and Papa
Gavin with Bompa and Grandma Kari
Bre lovin' the ice cream!
My nephew Cole getting in on some of the ice cream action!
Gavin with his buddies!

Gaver with mommy and daddy!
Gavin holding up one of his presents!
Gaver & Dylan sitting in front of his presents.
Gaver wanted a Transformer cake. Not what I had in mind but it will do!
Gaver and Kailee on his new trampoline! He wakes up every morning asking if he can go out and jump.
I am so lucky to be his mom!

One Hell of a Week!

School is out and all I have to say is GOOD RIDDANCE! I mean, this was a fun year and I had an amazing class; however, there were too many things going on in one week. Can you say taking inventory, grading, cumulative files, checking out, packing a classroom, finding babysitters, babysitting, having a nephew in the hospital, and husband out of town! Yeah, that was my week, enough said!