happy birthday kaden!

kaden had his third birthday last week! he was SOOO excited for it!
he had been asking for his very own bike {he had been borrowing his friend, bjorn's bike}. so this is what he found downstairs the morning of his birthday, bright and early... he jumped right on and wanted to go straight outside :)...
going down the driveway...

and he never wanted off!

we love you so much kaden! kaden {also known as...kade, kader gator, kaders, & little buddie} is such a smart, cute, loving boy! he fills our days full of sunshine and laughter! he's such a little talker and will tell you all you need to know about anything ;). he loves trying new things and loves getting into EVERYTHING..hehe. he's always so energetic!! happy birthday sweet, sweet kaden!! we hope you had a wonderful day!!

sometimes you just gotta' laugh!

i'm in the process of updating our blog...lots of things to post. but first, i just HAD to post this picture of gavin at his bday party. he had just opened a present for him and kaden, but didn't want to share...he wanted both balls all to himself! i just barely saw this picture for the first time {my friend who's a photographer took all the pics at the party for me}. maybe it's because it's late..but i am laughing SO hard right now!
more coming soon...

fathers day 09

hApPy fAtHeRs DaY to a "SUPER" dad!!!
we had a great fathers day...
here's the boys waiting for ben to wake up {we let him sleep in}.
and kaden making funny faces :)...i wanted to do something special for ben...so this is what i came up with/found. it all started with a superman fathers day card :). i found an etsy shop that allows you to purchase pdf files {in this case, superman files} that you can do whatever you want with/print. so i made a superman banner, superdad cards {that the kids colored}, and superdad cupcake toppers. i also printed the logos onto iron on transfer paper and made their little {big} pj shirts :).i made pancake cupcakes {with whipped cream on top} and raspberry muffins for ben for breakfast. yes, i said pancakes! i got the idea from my friend, Lyndsey {kitchendoughdough}. when making the 'cupcakes' you substitute cake batter with pancake batter! they are so fun, and the kids love 'em.cute little gav holding daddy's card...and here's the SUPER DAD!...

kaden and gavin got daddy a new bike for fathers day! he loved it!...here's the boys eating the breakfast muffins and pancakes...can i just say that ben is the GREATEST daddy! i'm not just saying it either. our boys absolutely ADORE their dad {everyone would agree}! when ben gets home they want NOTHING to do with me {especially gavin}. hehe. he is SO good with them, SO patient with them, SO loving towards them, and helps me SO much with them. i could NEVER ask or even dream for more.

you are the BEST babe...we all LOVE you SO MUCH!! happy fathers day!

happy birthday gavin!! our weekend...

our city had their city celebration last week. we enjoyed the carnival, parade, and more! gavin thought it was pretty cool that they did it all for him and his birthday! :)
these first pics are from our friday night carnival fun...

the boys LOVED this slide..especially gavin!

bjorn & gavin riding the boats...all three of 'em...

saturday...

HaPpY bIrThDaY gAvIn!!!!! my little boy turned TWO on saturday!! we started his birthday off with the city parade...

oooooing and ahhhhing over the big fire truck :)... and back to the carnival again!... grandma becky, kim, & travis came to see gavin on his big day. here's gavin running up to them right after he saw them. so cute...i freakin' love this picture..isn't it hilarious?! kaden was so proud of the goldfish he won at the fish toss game {with daddy's help}. LOVE IT...and as i always say, a carnival just isn't a carnival without cotton candy! man, i love that stuff!...

here's kaden coming out of a slide...

and the big slide with kim and travis!...

they brought gavin a birthday gift...

a scooter! gavin LOVED it!...

our cute little kaden...

another pic of the boys going down the big slide with kim & trav {can you tell what their favorite thing to do/ride was?}... ben & kaden, going up!... gavin wouldn't leave his new scooters' side :)...after some carnival fun we came home for naps and birthday cake {well, cupcakes}! here we are singing to gav...

here's a closer look at the cupcakes i made for him. we're having a big circus birthday party for gavin & kaden in a few weeks {i'm combining their parties this year}, but we still wanted to do something special on gavin's actual birthday. gavin loves elmo..so naturally, i made him some elmo cupcakes :)...blowing out his candles... mmmm, a gumball!... and here's the birthday boy and his present from mommy, daddy, and kaden. he loved it, and climbed right in!...kaden pushing gavin around the house :)...and of course, kaden had to try it out too :)...

after our little celebration at home we headed over to ben's parents house for more celebrating. gav and jessica share a birthday! so we were able to celebrate jess' b-day too! AND..seth {ben's bro} graduated from high school last week! so we celebrated his graduation as well! it was a night full of fun!

here's jess & gav with jessica's birthday cupcakes i made... a close up of the cuppy's. they're 'juicy' cupcakes! i made the toppers myself {printed and cut out the juicy logo and everything..hehe}. jess love's 'juicy' so that's why i made them...and here's setharoo being cool with his guitar :)...

seth's graduation cap cupcakes! you know me, any chance i can get {yes, these were the third batch i made in one day..hehe}!little gavin chowin' down on a big cuppy :)... kati, seth, athena & aries. it was so good to see you guys, we're so glad you came. and THANKS for the YUMMY pork!!!... seth holding his cupcakes under his congratulations sign...the bbq was great! thanks larry and darla! happy birthday jess, and congratulations seth!

on the way home kenzie wanted to go to the the carni ONE LAST TIME :). so i took her for the last 1/2 hr it was open...

here's some pics i took as we were walking around...so...happy birthday gavin! we love you so much! can i just say that gavin is such a sweetheart...anyone who knows what his voice sounds like knows what i'm talking about {i'm not kidding, it's the sweetest voice ever!}. he's my little love bug. i hope you had a good birthday gavers!

and there's our weekend for ya...it was definitely a great one!

our anniversary!

ben & i had our anniversary on the 4th~ we had a wonderful day! i have the sweetest husband. he made our anniversary so great.
first off, ben surprised me with a brand new nikon camera {i've been eyeing one at costco for a while now}! i LOVE it! as everyone knows, i always have a camera in hand, and am always taking pics {hence, the overload of pictures on every single one of my posts}. i'm so excited to finally be able to take nice pictures {different kinds of camera's make such a difference!}. thanks SO much babe, i don't deserve YOU!
THEN ben surprises me with a little getaway...
he had reservations at the roof. SO good, awesome atmosphere, so romantic.
here's what our table looked like as we arrived...

i love taking pictures of desserts :)... and then he took me to the anniversary inn! we stayed in one of the egypt rooms. we love the anniversary inn...the rooms are so awesome.

this is how you filled the tub. so cool...

and the shower came out of a snakes mouth...part of the room... the bed was in between two rams...

my loving grandma wanted us to stop by while we were in salt lake...

she had a sweet gift for us! thanks SO much grandma! we love you!!...
happy anniversary ben!! i just love you so much. i am so blessed and lucky to have you. i could NEVER ask for more. thank you SO much for everything..and for planning such a WONDERFUL anniversary!!

Update!

It's been forever since I've posted on our blog! It seems as though life just gets busier and busier :). Here's a few of our happenings this past month....

Darla {my mother-in-law} had a mother daughter dinner in her ward a few weeks ago...so most of us went to that. It was a lot of fun :)....For Family Home Evening one week we went to my mom's house and did yard work and roasted hot dogs in her fire pit. Great G'pa & G'ma Slaydon came too. It was a fun night...

And this is a picture of what Kaden's lip looked like about 2 weeks ago. He was playing around with his cousin at G'pa and G'ma Allen's and jumped off a chair and his face hit the arm rest. HIS TOOTH WENT ALL THE WAY THROUGH HIS BOTTOM LIP! Poor kid! He only cried for a minute though! They normally don't do stitches in the mouth because it heals so quickly...and sure enough, within about a week the huge hole was gone. These pics were taken the day after it happened...

Here's a random cute picture of Gavin in a Wal-Mart quarter ride {sorry about the quality, it's a phone pic}...

We went to sweet Bishop Bolli's funeral this past Tuesday. It was a beautiful funeral, and a beautiful day. What an amazing man. We will miss you Bishop Bolli....

I just love this picture I took of Darla {my mother-in-law} hugging Kiriauna at the graveside service...
My dad came into town for a few days this past week. We went out to dinner at the Mayan with them. I LOVE the Mayan. I just love the atmosphere! I'm such a kid at heart!And here's another phone pic that Ben took of Kaden having fun in Daddy's truck :)...
I'll be better on updating our blog now that I'm kinda caught up :)...

bishop bolli

9 years ago ben and i had a bishop that we absolutely loved. he was an amazing man with such a strong testimony of the restored gospel and service. he was always so kind, so loving, and made you feel so good about yourself. i vividly remember his genuine, "hello, how are you", in the halls at church, and his kind uplifting words he would say to me as he put his arm around me. i could always feel that he really cared about me and the other students in his ward. he will honestly always be my most favorite bishop...and one of my most favorite people for that matter.

but not only was gerhard our bishop those 9 years ago, he soon after became family when ben's sister, erin married his son, regan. we've seen him on numerous occasions at family functions etc over the past 9 years. it's always been so good to see him, and as before, i have always been greeted with that same big hug, smile, and genuine, "how are you". i love you bishop bolli. what a great example and man you were, and always will be...

gerhard passed away last week of organ failure just a few days after returning home from their mission in hawaii. he will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and all those who knew him. thank you so much for all you have done for us..and for the legacy you have left behind. you will never be forgotten. we will miss you so much.funeral services will be held tomorrow, june 26th, at 12:00 pm in the ephraim 3rd ward building.

red mango!

I'm posting this from my phone...I don't know how it works so I'm testing it. I just enabled mobile blogging :). Anyway, we're here at our new local red mango and can I just say, LOVE! The frozen yogurt is unbelievably good (I'm not kidding, it's to die for), the atmosphere is awesome, and the design is just so me! Hehe! So ya, I just had to share! Jami, you were SO right...with that being said, I'll go with you to red mango ANYTIME!!