Destin, FL and Kaylee's Birthday

I am currently sitting in a movie theater with Kaylee on one side of me and Sam on the other...and NO ONE else :). We have the entire theater to ourselves!  I asked Kaylee what she wanted to do for her bday and she said we should go to a movie and eat a cupcake.  So we fortunately have a movie theater that sells cupcakes!  Ha.  So check out Sam as I took their pic...all I could hear when I saw this was "I worship the ground you walk on big sister."  And then I teared.  Hahaha, so cute though!

We got back from Destin Fl Sunday evening.  It was great to get away and we all had a great time without responsibility.  

I'm still trying to figure out Audrie's carpooling situation.  I've probably emailed and called 40 people, by only 2 people have even replied saying they already have a carpool.  I know something will work out but it's hard not having a solid plan basically 2.5 weeks before school starts.

We are excited to see the Fords this week AND Katie!  It's going to be a whole different world with family so close :).

The same day Cami and Shane close on their house Andy, Ty and Audrie and I will be going to see Wicked!!  I'm so excited :).

Gotta run Sam is exploring the movie theater!  Ha, when do you ever get a chance to do that eh?

Tyler's Birthday and Kayaking

The summer always keeps me on my toes.  June, July and August never fail to keep the fam having a good time, with a few exceptions of slight insanity (on my part).  Birthday's GALORE.  We just celebrated Tyler's 11th birthday...I simply can't accept that I have an 11 year old.  Geez!  I am getting old.  That means we only have 7 more years with him!  That my friends is crazy.  He had a great time celebrating with his friends (first pic), whom are on the very same maturity level as he is.  Love how much fun they can have together, this picture captures everything perfectly! 

After much debate about getting Tyler a phone or not we decided to get him and ipod touch.  Since he is going to be in middle school in the fall I wanted him to have a way to communicate with me and I with him.  You see with Audrie at the private school there is a real possibility things may arise that may require Tyler to pick up his little sister from school on occasion or often...we just don't know yet.  The kicker is we can enable restrictions on the ipod.  Internet access is disabled, app purchasing is protected by pass code and thus we have to be able to approve anything added.  Audrie inherited Andy's ipod touch so she can communicate with us from her far away private school as well.  I'm hoping it meets the needs as all my children will be at different schools this year!

Needless to say he has been in heaven, as has Audrie.  Their favorite this so far is face-timeing each other and playing hide and seek in the house. Would have you ever thought of that??  Me either.

Earlier this week we were invited to go fishing and kayaking with some of our neighborhood friends who are also members in our ward.  You know the lake right by our house?  They stock fish in there, cat fish and a couple of other kinds of fish.  That is where we fished, but it's a catch and release rule :)  Everyone caught at least one fish, Tyler being patient and taking the longest.  They also kayaked and had a blast doing that.  Made me think we need to get one since we basically have a lake in our backyard! 

Andy and I also were invited to an 80's mystery dinner, surprise birthday party.  It was super fun.  Andy and I got all eighties-ed up and enjoyed our time together. (last pic)  Good times!!

Audrie's Birthday :)

Let the chaos of my life begin J  hahahaha, all the children are up and the pestering has begun.  Why do boys always have to pester????  Tyler has entered a new level of “annoying” his siblings.  It is driving me NUTS!!  He is constantly trying to get a rise out of his sisters.  I’m not sure I can handle this phase of boyhood very long….any advice father, and brother’s in law?  I even recall when I was that age and thinking, “Wow.  Boys are so annoying…why do they act that way?”  Truly baffled by their behavior.  I am still baffled.

Anyway, things are good here.  I am preparing for a baptism tonight!!  One of my laurels that just graduated is getting baptized tonight!  Her parents don’t let them get baptized until they are 18 (her Dad is very inactive and against the church) and let them make their own decision regarding whether to do it or not.  But they are as active in the church as you can be, so it’s kind of a unique situation.  They know the gospel very well and have lived the standards their entire lives, but have not received the blessings of baptism.  She asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost, so I’m trying to take all of that into consideration as I write my talk J  I am just so excited she decided to do it before she headed off to college.   

We thoroughly enjoyed our kick off to summer with the Ford family’s visit.  The kids were in heaven each having their own cousin to buddy up with.  It was fantastic!  Porter was super fun to have around and Sam loved interacting with him (although I think I mentioned in my previous email that there was a touch of jealousy involved!).

I’ve had Ali on my mind every single evening and morning for the past couple of weeks (not to mention multiple times during the day!) hoping that her little Hank comes soon.   He can’t stay in there forever!!  Plus I think he’s been waiting for Wade to get better  before he comes.  Hopefully Wade is feeling better!!

We celebrated Audrie’s birthday this week and last.  She had THREE birthday bashes.  One with the Ford’s, one with her friends and one on her actual birthday with her fam!    The friend party was at the American Girl Bistro, which is a part of the store just a restaurant portion.  As she got into the room for the party they escorted her to her birthday “throne”.  I was immediately taken back to when she was in her preschool graduation and they announced what she wanted to be when she grew up… “The Queen.”  I’ve always giggled about that!  BUT I have also thought there is so much truth to that.  I think she subconsciously remembered that THAT was the very purpose she was here on the earth to earn her CROWN; to earn her ability to be a queen and that she is royal material.  Well she got to test drive her “throne” on Friday (see picture).

We are now in the process of planning Tyler’s birthday.  He just wants to invite a few friends to bowl and play laser tag J  BIRTHDAY’s galore at the Hart home during the summer!!  Every couple of weeks throughout the entire summer.  Ty’s is in about 1.5 weeks, then mine, Kaylee’s less than two weeks later then Andy is just about two weeks after that.  GOOD times!!  We party all summer long!