Hilltop Garden

This summer we are going to be involved in a family gardening program at Hilltop Gardens at IU. We seriously lucked out! They are providing our garden plot, all of the plants and seeds, and teaching us about gardening! Our first activity was finding different things around the garden. Tori made sure to mark everything off our list when we found them!

We found some beautiful flowers and even got to smell them!

Then we got to find some really soft plants!

This is Lea- she is running our program this summer! She was so cute with all the kids. Hurrah for learning new things- here they are smelling mint leaves!

Sadly, it started to rain really hard before we finished our tour of all the gardens- this place is huge. But that didn't mean we couldn't do anything. We got to help find worms in the compost!

Garrett thought it was great and got really good at it!

I don't think Tori was quite as excited, but she still found some worms and was pretty proud of herself for doing so!

Then we took that compost and helped to break it down even more. I love that we get to be so involved in everything and that our kids now know what compost is!

So excited for all the things we are going to learn this summer in our garden!!!

Cascade Park

Tonight we tried out a new park as part of our FHE- Cascade park is fantastic! Check out this awesome playground!!! It was huge!

Tori thought this big slide was awesome!

Garrett did not share her fondness!

Tori thought this swing was great!

Jared couldn't resist climbing to the top of this contraption!

These two loved running on the bridge!

Garrett finally found some slides that were more to his liking!

May I take your order please? Tori and Garrett run a pretty great restaurant!!!

Tori wanted to try out this fun new spinning toy! It was really entertaining to watch her reaction!

What an awesome park!

For our FHE lesson we went on a short walk along a trail across the street from the park. Tori and Garrett were especially excited about the bridges and the river!

Tori made sure we took some time to smell the flowers!

Garrett absolutely loved throwing things in the river!

Because there is nothing better than seeing the splash!!!

Our FHE was so great- it was so wonderful to be outside and enjoy some of the beautiful things that Heavenly Father made for us!!!

Mother's Day!!!

Jared, Tori, and Garrett made sure that I had a wonderful Mother's Day! It started with a yummy French toast breakfast in bed! Tori was especially excited that they put berries on it! Jared gave an amazing talk on Womanhood today in our Ward- he did such a great job! Then our Relief Society put on a brunch for all the ladies- it was so nice to be able to all meet together! When we got home from church, Jared took care of everything for dinner! I felt very spoiled today!!!
My most favorite things today were made by Tori and Garrett! Tori drew these pictures for me in her Primary class!

She is getting really good at drawing people!

And she made this card for me in Sharing Time!

Her answers are the best!!!

These are the pictures that were in the secret compartment of my card!

She was so excited for me to find it!

Instead of a card this year, Jared and the kids started a Mother's Day journal for me. Each year they will add notes and pictures so I will have them all together- I love it!!! Here is Garrett's beautiful drawing!

And here is Tori's!

I am the luckiest Mommy in the world to have Jared and these two kiddos in my life! I love them all so much!!!

Karst Park

In the short time we have lived in Bloomington, we have noticed that there are a plethora of parks here. Which means that we are going to do a lot of park hopping this summer to check a bunch of them out. Today we tried out Karst park. We have been here once before for our Easter egg hunt, but we really didn't get to explore much. So, that's what we did today!

Garrett was a huge fan of the alligator slide!

Tori was so excited to discover a secret room!

Every time she went down a slide, she went backwards!

Garrett made sure to take his rock with him everywhere- even down the slide!

Tori loves that she knows how to swing on her tummy!

These are the smiles I want to tuck away and keep in my heart forever!!!

Garrett was in heaven with all the rocks he was able to find!

Look how high!

Hurrah, I finally got a picture of them together!

Garrett needs only rocks and a place to throw them to be thoroughly entertained!

Of note, this park has a bunch of trails to explore and a frisbee golf course as well! We will most definitely be back!!!

Au revoir April

Wow, it feels like April came and went before we could even blink! We have been super busy with school, callings, and just having fun as a family! Here are a few more things we have done this month- enjoy!
At the first of the month Jared was able to attend the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Conference in Pittsburgh, PA.  He learned tons and was also able to make lots of new connections- it's all about who you know! Here is Jared with Alex and Brent (2 other PhD students at IU with him) taking a rare break to try out the local cuisine!

Jared, Brent, Jenna (another PhD student), and Alex at the NARST Conference! (These 4 all started their programs together this year!)

Despite what you might think, bike helmets can be used as a great hat whenever you feel like wearing one around! And so he wouldn't be left out, Garrett used his velcro catch mitt thing as a hat too!

Garrett has such a grasp of color and an impressive command of his paint brush!

Love these cuties in their jammie t-shirts- so adorable!!!

Tori has discovered new hair accessories- her princess doll dresses!

Daddy was a good sport and let Tori put some dresses in his hair too!!!

Derek and Camila will be getting married in July- we are so excited for them! It has been a great excuse (not that we need one) to practice fun new hairstyles for Tori! Here was our first try- it turned out so cute! 

The next Sunday we did this one!

I really liked how it turned out- but I definitely need to practice this one to get it a little tighter!

Love this beautiful girl!!!

Hope you all enjoyed your April as much as we did! Here's to a great May!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today we celebrated my 34th birthday! It really seems strange because I distinctly remember when I was a teenager thinking that people in their 30's were soooo old. And now that I find myself in my 30's, I realize how young that really is and how much of my life I have yet to look forward to! Kind of a fun change in perspective!
Anyways, back to today- I had a grand birthday!  I had an unexpected visit from my Relief Society President, heard from all of our family, and received a few cards and gifts too! Jared made it a special point to come home early so he and Tori could make my birthday cake- Tori was so excited!!!

When Garrett woke up from his nap, he joined in on the cake making fun and helped with decorating! Here is my very own cake making and decorating crew- they did such a great job!!!

Tori and Garrett couldn't wait to give me my birthday card and show me where they had colored pictures for me! Tori even wrote her name for me!

Yeah for new clothes!

Jared did such a great job picking everything out!

And then we had to have a fashion show! I love that Tori and Garrett were my very special helpers with all my birthday fun!!!

Now for the cake!

I even had help blowing out my candles- which is probably a very good thing!

Talk about a fabulous birthday- thanks so much to everyone who helped make it so special!!!