the prettiest fingers i ever did see

We dumped some Martha Stewart craft glitter into our homemade finger-paint and it was preeeeeeeety.

I hated the finger-paint recipe we used so I'm not going to post it.  

If anyone has any suggestions for an awesome recipe PLEASE TELL ME. I've been searching for 4 years! We try a new recipe every time and there aren't any that I love. Same goes for play-dough. 

yummers

The refrigerator door got left open last week and Mallory discovered the deliciousness of whipped cream. Yum!

Grandma Came to Visit

Jan came to visit us for a couple of weeks so she could be here for Michael's graduation. It was really fun having grandma around. The girls adore their Grandma Jan. We love having her here and we miss her when she's away from us!

 Daredevil Kaylee showing off her jumping skills.

 Michael and Grandma with the girls. (please notice of how well-behaved Mallory is. She's such a  good girl when she's sleeping)

Cutest almost-five-year-old ever!

GRADUATION!

One step down... a few more to go.

Michael graduated with his Associates of Nursing on July 21. Yayyyy! We are so excited that he is finished with the nursing program. I am so grateful that he was accepted and that he was blessed with the opportunity to attend school at BYU Idaho. Michael has 6 more online classes to take before he gets his bachelor's and then we will be finished with this leg of our journey. After that he will work as an RN for a few years and then it will be on to CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) school.

If you read this Michael, I LOVE YOU! and I'm so very proud of you. Thanks for making my dream of being a mom and wife and having a cute and happy little family come true♥

 BYU-I Center

 Mallory and me

 Michael on the big screen (tiny in the corner)!

 With his empty diploma case

(diplomas are in the mail:):)

 woot!

 Michael's mom was able to come be with us the week he graduated:)

Our cute and happy family.

The Weekend

I have been the worst ever at blogging lately. I have lots of great stuff to blog about (well, I think it's great) so I'll be going backwards for the next few posts. We will start with our most recent escapade.

We left for Utah after church on Sunday to visit Michael's sister, Erica, and her husband. They were visiting his family in Utah and we were NOT about to miss out on an opportunity to see them! We stayed with my aunt and uncle, Amy and Clark, and we got to hang out with some of my very cutest and most favorite cousins, Raquel and Nicole. We met Rhett and Erica at Cabella's (Michael's favorite sporting goods store!) and then we all went to temple square. We didn't spend as much time there as I would have liked to but that's okay. We enjoyed the company we were with:):)

 Here are the cousins at Temple Square. Somewhere I have a picture just like this of me and my cousins:) so special.

 Erica, Rhett, Michael, and Kaylee

 The Tabernacle.

 One of my most favorite rooms ever in the world.

(everyone made fun of me for looking like Katniss in my green tunic. I should have carried a bow and arrow with me!)

 On the way home we stopped to visit my grandma's grave.

 My Uncle Matthew is buried here too. How I adore him. Here we are between his headstone and my grandma's.

 My grandma loved to sing and to be sung to so we sang I Love to See the Temple, I am a Child of God, and the Barney Song (I love you, you love me) to her and Matthew.

 Michael took on the role of "photographer". So here we are with our singy faces (and MESSY hair!). He was a little self-consious of his images but I think he did a fine job!

and here is a picture we took of him today for a nursing application. I just think he is so adorable.

outtakes

I haven't been doing a very good  job recording the funny things I hear my kids say. It's not very much, but here's the latest.


{Riley: "Mom, I see your beddy button.
Me: "You do?! What does it look like??"
Riley: "A snow cone!"}

{Riley: "Mom, your breath has stink in it."
Me: "eeew! What does it smell like?"
Riley: "Salad milk!!"}

{Riley: "Mom, when we go to Grandma's can I bring my Mister... Tiny... Tiny..... Little.. Little............ Teddy?"}

{Lily in the car: "ugh. It's soooo hot in here! I can't even smell."}

{Michael as he was going to bed: "Lily, will you please shut the door all the way?"
Lily (in her sweetest and most concerned voice): "Are you sure you're not afraid of the real dark?"}

{Kaylee (before getting in bed): "Wait. Mom. First I want to teach my ninja moves. Because, did you know? I was born to be a ninja."
Lily: "Well, I was born to be a spy! Hiyaaa!" (complete with a leg kick)
Riley: "Well I-eeee was born to be a princess."}

{Lily was renaming her nail polish colors. Here are my favorites:

Strawberry Shortcake's Bluest Sleepover Night
Orange Blossom's Oranges
Rapunzel's Sparkling Night at Her House on Her Birthday
Hello Kitty Accidentally Put Fingernail Polish on Her Lips Red}

a child's prayer

I love listening to Kaylee say her prayers at night. Here is the middle of tonight's prayer:

"please bless that I don't cry for my bunny at church {it died a few days ago:( }

please bless that we don't fight over the scooter

please help us not to fight about our toys

please bless that we can live in a house with stairs when we get enough money

please bless that I can get a kitty

please help us to stop climbing on the counters"

Kaylee's prayers are so cute because she really thinks about what blessings she would like to ask for. Her prayers are anything but generic. Oh, and a few weeks ago she prayed every night that she could be as fast as Sonic. I just love being her mom.