Marching Through May

Another month is over- wow! Here's to our May wrap up!!!

It's so fun listening to Garrett read to himself!

Garrett has a grand time picking dandelions! It's a good thing we have so many for him to pick!

Love this girl, and I love her outfit- this is one of my favorites that she has come up with!!!

Three best pals!

Tori set up this 'lovely' room for Prince all by herself!

Lately, Tori has been earning some iPad time. And, of course, Garrett wants to play, too. Tori is fine having him there...

as long as he doesn't get too close!

Love this crazy, and super handsome, little boy!

Oh my how I love their smiles!!!

Each and every one feels like a gift!

Garrett and one of his favorites- Moo, Baa, La La La!

There is nothing better than story time with Daddy!

 Tori and her death-defying slide show!

Garrett's somewhat tamer, but still riveting, show!

Not long ago, I was asking Jared how kids could fall asleep while eating a meal- ours just never have. Until today, that is. I was cleaning up from lunch and realized that Garrett was being really quiet. I turned around to see our little guy passed out in his high chair!

What a cutie pie!

In case you were wondering, a pile of shoes is a fantastic place to hang out and lounge a bit!!!

Yeah for May! And now let's see what June brings our way!!!

Water Table Inauguration

Tori and Garrett play with the water table all the time! And we have even had water in it- inside the house. But for Memorial Day, we decided it was time to really let the kids break the water table in- so outside we all went!

Yeah for a beautiful warm day- and water to play in!

Garrett had a ball splashing water everywhere and Tori watered as much of our front yard as she could!!!

Little Miss Tori- dippin' in!

Garrett, on the other hand, dove right in!

He was soaked in no time!

These two love playing in the water!

Tori and Garrett- their water table fun!!!

We hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day! We are so grateful for the amazing men and women who have fought, and continue to fight, so we can enjoy days like today!!!

Zoopolis 500

In celebration of the Indy 500, today we attended Zoopolis 500 at the Indy Zoo! I have to admit that it was a spectacular event- much more than just a tortoise race! When we got to the arena we were met with the 500 Festival Princesses- the princesses for the Indy 500. Very uncharacteristically, Tori got really shy. These girls were wonderful with her- one of them asked if she would be in a picture with them and another even let Tori wear her tiara!

Tori and the 500 Festival Princesses!!!

We all enjoyed our free milk (it was sponsored by the Dairy Association) while we waited for the race to begin!

There was even a parade to kick things off! Here we have the Dairy Princess escorted by a cow!

And then the 500 Festival Princesses escorted by a lion!

Tori waving back to her princess friends!

And then came the tortoises- voila, end of parade! Whoever planned this must have small children! Next came the fabulous Zoopolis 500! I thought it was great that each tortoise had a uniform. And then, they were off!!!

Garrett was not happy during the race. He wanted to run and climb on everything. I'm such a mean Mommy and made him stay by me and Tori!

Hurrah to Marco- the winner!

Tori and Garrett loved watching the tortoises eat their victory fruit!

After the race, we made sure to see all of our zoo favorites! Sadly, there were few pictures taken- it's rough trying to keep up with two kids, dodge 50 million school field trip groups, and run a camera at the same time. I did happen to capture some pictures of Tori and Garrett creating their own butterflies!

They made some beautiful ones!!!

Tori, Garrett, and I had a grand time at the Zoo today! And I am super proud of myself for tackling the outing without Jared. (Although it would have been much more fun with him there!) Here's to another Indiana bucket list item checked off!!!

Our May Package

Today we received our May package from Grandma and Grandpa Allen! Tori and Garrett were so excited to see what was inside!

Tori was tickled to pieces with her aqua ball- thanks Grandpa! She has never had flavored water before, so it was pretty funny when she took her first sip. Tori swallowed and then said, "well that was interesting!"

Her reaction was the best!

Yeah- Garrett got a new car! (You picked a good one Grandpa!)

Tori wasted no time trying on her fairy princess dress and accessories!

This outfit is absolutely adorable! I love that Tori is showing off her shoes!!!

Thanks for another fantastically wonderful package Grandma and Grandpa! Thanks for spoiling us and sending such cute clothes for Tori and Garrett- we appreciate it so much! Love you tons!!!

To the Temple We Go!

Jared and I have been big-time slackers in the temple attendance department lately. Granted, we do live 2 1/2 hours from the temple and we have young children. It's hard to leave them at home with a babysitter all day long. And it's hard to take them with you. Basically, it's just hard. But we finally realized that there is always going to be something to make it difficult to get there and we needed to get back into regularly attending the temple- it is so important. So, this morning we packed a lunch, packed up our little family, picked up Amanda, and headed to the Louisville temple! Jared went in to do initiatories first, while Amanda and I entertained the kids outside- it was a beautiful day!

Tori loved petting the donkey!

She even tried to feed him some leaves!

Garrett thought he would give petting the donkey a try, too!

And he couldn't leave the sheep out!

I love the look on Garrett's face- he saw Baby Jesus!!!

If you look closely, Garrett is eating a cookie. One of the Louisville Wards was having a Primary activity and they adopted Tori and Garrett. They shared cookies and water with us! Tori almost ended up in their group photo! It was so kind of them to include our kids in their fun treats and activity!

When Jared was done, we had a picnic lunch and then swapped- Jared took the kids, while Amanda and I went through an Endowment session. It was so wonderful being in the temple!!! Lately, I have been feeling a bit critical and rundown. But, by the end of the session, those feelings were all gone. I felt so much lighter and happier! I know those feelings came from worshiping in the temple and the incredible spirit that comes into our lives by serving there! By the time we got home, we had been away for over 9 hours- it was a long and absolutely awesome day!!!

An American Institution

Tonight we joined a bunch of other Pike High School teachers and their families to take in an Indian's game! It was fun to be able to meet new people and catch up with others- there ended up being about 85 in our group!

Hurrah-we found our seats!

Jared and Garrett waiting for the game to start!

We started trying to explain a bit of the game to Tori. I think she was only interested in playing with the binoculars!

Suspicion confirmed- the game was the other direction!!!

Here is our 'cheeser' boy...

and our super 'cheeser' girl!!!

Garrett had so much fut at the baseball game!  As we neared the end of the game, he wanted to get down and explore. So, Jared took him up to walk around the console area. Garrett would put his hand out to give a 'high 5' to every person he passed- what a kid!!!

I have so many fond memories of going to baseball games when I was growing up. And now I am glad that we are starting to make those great memories with our own little family! Take me out to the ball game!!!