Mormon Helping Hands

 I was the photographer for the day. :) Good job for me since I'm not a huge fan of manual labor in poison oak land. :)

 The kids had a lot of fun in the water...

 Noah loved his rock...can you tell?

 Phil and his counselor that everyone thinks is GQish. :) haha I'll take the guy on the right. :)

 Our sweet, Tautiana throwing rocks with Isaiah and just hanging with us the whole, long day. :)

 We ended with a BBQ picnic. Phil was way too involved in the whole thing, but it went okay and it is over now. :) RWC sent an incredibly kind letter of gratitude and how there is no other group that they can trust as much as ours and how thankful they are that we always reach out to them for projects. Go Phil! ;)

Mother's Day Sing at Preschool

 Noah had been having a hard time with school. He didn't want to go and would frequently cry and throw a fit every time I dropped him off. I HATED it! I even caved on occasion because I couldn't take it. He even told me that he didn't want to sing for Mother's Day because he gets so tired standing up there singing all those songs. :) haha Such a crack-up!

 But he did it! And I was soooo thankful he did. Wish it was easier to get videos on here.

 Grami loved it too!

 Then he gave me my present...he painted to pot and planted the flower. SOOO sweet!

 His eyes were bugging him with the all the sun! :)

 One of our fav teachers, Mrs. Ghiozzi.  :) She lives close-by too and she's great.

 Brother love. :)

 Posing for Dad. Isaiah then commence begging to spend time with Grami at HER house  :)

Mother's Day and Other Fun Stuff

 We celebrate mom's day with our moms on Saturday so that Sunday can be a true day of rest and enjoyment...or at least that's the hope. :)

 We decided to eat at Flemings. Pretty good, but super expensive.

 My mom and I..photographer Noah?

 We had a YW from church with us who took the pics. :)

 Noah was having a moment...

 So thankful for my mom and the example she has set of being selfless and loving and patient.

 I hope only to add to her greatness and pass on those great qualities.
My mother-in-law is another example of a woman who shows such great love to those she cares about and I am so thankful to also have her in my life! Truly blessed am I!

 The boys went to the Father and Sons campout. They wanted to use the BIG tent. They were laughed at, but they had a blast...

 until they went to sleep and it was COLD!

 Phil said Isaiah kept asking when/where they were going to be going to going to sleep, and when Mom and Emi would be there. :) He was super excited to go and didn't even care I wasn't going. Phew! There's a perk to having one girl and three boys! ;)

 Emi and I went to the mall and got new earrings (she's been waiting FOREVER, according to her). We got some to match the necklace that awesome cousin Alli gave her for being a flower-girl. :) Then we sat down at CPK and she kept saying she was cold (she was wearing my jacket) and that she wasn't hungry. Lo and behold a fever for the 4th time that week....Finally found out that Tuesday that she had pneumonia! Poor girl. Broken arm and sick! Anyway...

 They called at 9:30 in the morning and were already on the way home~ ;)

 SOOOO thankful for a priesthood holding, loving, fun dad for these boys and our girl. What a blessing!

 Emi likes to be artistic in her photos...

 she thought a cup of ice was very interesting

 Dad loves are the best!

 Isaiah loves are equally awesome! :) lovin' life here with all the people! ;)

Noah is 5!

Noah chose to have a family party and trip instead of a big friend bash (YAY!) so I went and bought a few things and my trusty partner in crime, Emi helped make it a super fun pirate day!

Tattoos

 Digging for Gold

 and then a bee, on the ground...

 Nothing a little light saber won't cure.

 Pin the treasure on the map

 light saber battles

balloon sword fights

 lots of loves for the light-saber auntie

 then she even brought water balloons! It was 86!

 Emi said that this was even more fun than her party because she was so excited to surprise Noah. It was so cool to explain the principle of service to her...when you serve others, and when you give to others, you are happier than when you receive. Love this broken-arm girl (more on that later)

 Phil wasn't able to escape Bishop duties until 6:40! But we got him once he did.

 Emi hit him right on the head with a balloon that burst! It was hilarious. She felt so bad until he started laughing. Then it was fair game.

Treasure hunt...Emi and I made the map of the backyard.

 He had to dig up little bags with pirate things inside.

 Isaiah being a pirate with his patch. Argh

 The ultimate treasure....pinata!

 Phil and I are doing Medifast...it was SUPER hard at first, but now we are in the swing of it and losing quite a bit. I had a BITE of a cupcake. That was hard and delicious! :)

 I love this little boy soooo much!

 His buddy from church, Alden came a little later :O)

 The kids set up a pirate ship and drew a sign they put on the porch. It was a super fun family night! Noah exclaimed that it was the best day of his whole life. The next day he was reliving the fun and he said, "Mom, I am so thankful for my birthday that I just don't know what to say." Now THAT was a moment as a mom! He deserves it all! Love you a TON, Noah!