October-ish :)

Fun Halloween presents from Gramma Marilyn & Grampa Bert.

Cute relief society craft I made at my first official activity, & my first activity being on the planning committee. It was really successful & I had a great time. They had a nursery for the kids. They did great! It was a service activity making "bedtime bags" for kids at the local homeless shelter, & a few little crafts to make as well. It was fun to get to visit & get to know some of the ladies in my ward better too!

Black Island Farms was a blast! We stood in line for an hour & a half to ride the tractor & pick out pumpkins. Well worth it though! The kids were so good! We rode the little train & played in the corn pit. I picked so many corn kernels out of Lola's diaper that night & then out of the laundry for days hahaha! We saw Vincie & Russie there too! Fun surprise! Thanks Grammy & Poppy for all the fun activities you plan!

Also a lil tidbit of info. I met Bobby's girlfriend earlier that day. She seems very on-the-ball & good with the kids. She did Lola's hair so cute too. It was a surprise when they dropped them off (early too, glad I was just getting home from a run!). Gotta roll with it though. Went fairly well, & I'd rather be in the loop anyways :) And I truly do want him to be happy

Maelee's 3rd birthday party! Lola sure has a special bond with Dakota. He loves her just as much too. It is very sweet.

We also learned that day that Ashley is pregnant!!! And having a little girl! So excited & happy for their cute little fam to grow <3

Halloween fun painting pumpkins & going to visit the Martin's dogs. Figured it was a good day to get dirty & hair-covered since we were already covered in paint. And cornstarch paint too! Tate had been painting the driveway earlier that day. Fun times!

Enjoying our fire pit in the backyard. We roasted hot dogs & marshmallows & had my friend Dan over for his birthday. We made him a football cake. Tate is the best lil baker! He is so cute. We both wear our aprons & have a fun time :)

Friedli Family Halloween Carnival. Woot woot! 

My mom is incredible. She always plans the funnest things for us!!

She & Poppy's surprise costumes were Play-Doh! They looked darling!

Zach surprised us with Dakota's costume too!!! He is so amazing! He made Dakota an extremely realistic CAT skidsteer costume that goes over his wheelchair. What an awesome dad!

My beautiful kids <3

We've been celebrating Halloween all month! So it was okay that I had to work. It was Bobby's weekend anyways, & his birthday as well. We made Halloween cards, painted ghosts & "Boo" on Tater's cheek & hands, which he loved. He now has an obsession with tattoos hahaha.

They looked so darling in their Halloween-wear I just had to take a pic. Lola's got her skeleton/skull legwarmers on & Tate had his frankenstein shirt from Dakota. My gorgeous kids!

I got to see them for a minute the next day (actual Halloween). I worked Friday & Saturday.

They stopped to say hi & to get a trick-or-treat treat from Mama after they dropped Sissy off at Weber State. Her Thriller performance was on actual Halloween this year.

Bobby went to watch that while the kiddos stayed at Billy's house where Gramma Sandi made homemade doughnuts!

Bobby said they did great trick-or-treating! Tate was so brave this year! And Lola just loved going up to all the doors & wasn't scared at all!

I was doing okay at work until I heard about all the fun I was missing out on! :(

I am so glad that they had a great day though. That is what is important!

Happy Halloween my little monsters!!!

I love you!

Xo

1 & 3 year check ups

The kids were SO good (considering they are both toddlers ;)) at Dr. Nye's office!

Tate is still talking about the sucker he gave him.

My little man was SO brave this time. We had to do a little bit of coaxing, but he did awesome!

Little Miss Lo did great too, kind of. She was not a fan of Dr. Nye & his inspecting of her, or the shots the nurse gave her. Poor little princess. I'm sure it IS scary. But it is embarassing for Mom too haha. Dr. Nye is always so kind to us & to me personally. Always asks how I am doing with everything. Technically you DO need a mentally stable mother to raise healthy kids right? But he goes above & beyond to care for our sweet little fam.

You can see Lola is perfectly proportioned in the 85th percentile all around: head/height/& weight!

23 lbs & 12.5 oz of perfection <3

My little TatersaladPants is 3 feet 3 1/2 inches tall, which is the 86th percentile,

& he is 35 pounds, in the 77th percentile.

Lucky me to have such beautiful, perfectly healthy kids! 

Birthday- the big 35

My birthday was great this year. Normally I love them & get so excited months before. I love an opportunity to celebrate another year of life. I am so blessed & have a wonderful life.

I think this year I was just kind of a downer about it though. Not that I wasn't excited or minded getting older.

35 seems like a whole other "box" in life though. I'm not exactly where I want to be, but I am definitely on my way!

My sweet parents made sure I had an awesome day. I had wanted to take the kids to see the trains at the Union Station & then walk to Lucky Slice for pizza, but it rained.

Totally awesome though because I LOVE the rain. It is my most favoritest weather (yes it is a word;))

We went to get ice cream instead & Tate LOVED it. It was fun. Grammy met us there & we were so glad she did!

When I got home later there was a beautiful, perfect little cake with a lone little candle on it

sitting in front of my door.

I smiled & had tears. People are so kind. A girl from my ward had texted me to wish me happy birthday & told me she left a little cake there. This girl is SO sweet. She is a mom of 5 & definitely has her hands full. I love her personality & to hear her insights on topics at church. Oh man I'm gonna cry just thinking about this.

I was so completely touched that she had thought of me.

I consider her a friend, but I would never have expected that kind gesture.

Someone else left me flowers a few months ago too. I still don't know who it was.

I am so touched & flattered by the kindness that has been shown to me by my ward family. Everyone is so caring, always asking how I'm doing, trying to help me when I'm struggling with my kids at church, or telling me they are thinking of me.

It means SO much to me. I love my ward & appreciate them so much.

My sweet parents came & brought me flowers, & my mom took me to the Greenery at Rainbow Gardens while Dad took the kids for a bike ride at the Parkway. The Greenery is special to us because Nannie loved it. What a special place to celebrate.

I included in the little collage above, the sunflower that was in full bloom right then. My mom gave it to us, & Tate & I have watered & grown it (my neighbor Dave ran over Lola's :/ accident & totally fine. Even offered to pay for it haha)

I also put a picture of my peace lily that bloomed. Nannie gave me this planter from her house, right around when she went to the care center. It has grown SO much. I'm SO glad I haven't killed it! Haha anyways, that night I was feeling a little down & not really at peace. I went into the laundry room to grab something & noticed the bloom on the peace lily! I don't even remember seeing a bloom on it ever before. How special for me to find it, for it to be there that day, & right at a moment I really needed to feel peace. I know that was a gift from Heavenly Father & Nannie. I ask him for my loved ones who have passed on to watch over me & the kids & help us through our struggles.

What a lovely blessing that day! 

I could not have gotten through this last year without my AMAZING parents & family, my AWESOME friends, my sweet ward family, & the gospel too.

I am SO blessed!

a VERY happy birthday to me & I'm making a wish for a wonderful year!

(Oh no! Because I said it out loud will it not come true!?)

My sweet Gramma Marilyn. And the delicious brownies my mama made me for my birthday dinner (navajo tacos-yummy!)

My mom is the sweetest. She always decorates & goes all out for everyone's birthday.

Gramma Marilyn gave me one of her special necklaces. It says "Love" in diamonds. Papa Joe had given it to her. This made me cry too.

I love sentimental things. They are so special to me.

The "Love" necklace was a cool choice to give me because although I don't have a "love" in my life, i have soooo much LOVE in my life!

Happy birthday to me!

Rest of August

I invented "Baby Dodgeball." Tate loves it. Basically I just chuck balls at him. He thinks it's hysterical & I get out frustrations :) Totally kidding!

Playin at Gramma Sandi & Grampa Bob's.

That face <3 <3

Learning to go pee in the potty! He is doing awesome!

Still learning on how to pull up those undies though.

I didn't even notice until he reached up to the counter & his shirt came up.

Haha! Love it!

That face <3

I love this cheeser face he's started pulling!

I just had a thought! I totally have a squinty smile! Maybe he's copying ME!

He's been repeating a lot of things I say lately & it is quite comical to hear these things out of a boy's mouth. Apparently I am pretty girly & very expressive haha

I am trying to catch up on the blogging since I fixed my dropbox account. So this may have happened in July, but it is news nonetheless.

Dad retired from HAFB. They had an awesome ceremony/program for it. So many people were there & had so many nice things to say about my dad.

He is the most amazing man I know. I am so glad that my kids have him as an example.

He is everything a man, husband, father, & "Poppy" should be!

Love you Dad!

We wish you the very best of luck in your new job & know you will do fantastic!

Well, this was a fun day haha!

This is the only photo I have of our ward swimming party & it's as we are getting the heck outta dodge!

I decided to take the kids for a few hours by myself-it will be fun!

How hard could it be?!

It was hard!

They accidentally got the time wrong (& felt terrible! Truly not that big of a deal)

so we waited outside for an hour. It was one of the ONLY days of the month it was not blazing hot haha! It was actually freezing once we were in the water. I only brought one life jacket thinking we wouldn't leave the splash pad or kiddie pool area.

It was fine though, we went around the lazy river & in the deep end. I held Lola in the life jacket & Tate rode on my back. It was pretty fun.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that Tate pooped his pants as soon as we got in the water. Since we were only there for an hour & a half I didn't bring a spare swim diaper & he had already pooped that day.

Awesome. It was diarrhea. I had to take him in the bathroom & peel his wet stuff off him & attempt to wipe the concoction off him meanwhile getting it all over my hands.

I had to put my baby on the disgusting sopping wet filthy floor while she is screaming & wanting me to hold her. I am trying to keep her out of the filthy stall & toilet.

A nice woman in the bathroom saw me trying to salvage Tate's swim diaper & gave me one of hers.

So nice!

Uggh. Once we finished we went back to swimming.

It started getting freeeezing cold! We swam for awhile & then it was about 730 pm so I decided I better get them home & bathe them. I am taking Lola's wet clothes off as she is HYSTERICAL!!! I didn't want her to freeze but in hindsight I should've just packed up & left. People were staring thinking I was beating her she was so upset. Contorting her body & using her Baby-SHERA-princess-of-power-strength as Tate is making a gigantic disaster with the two creamies he got for himself & Lola.

What a scene. I was almost in tears leaving. Sometimes I laugh & sometimes I cry haha.

One of the ladies in my ward saw me struggling with my stroller, bag, screaming baby, & trying to keep Tate by my side through the parking lot, so she helped me to our car. Very nice. It was all a complete disaster, but hey, I tried to be a fun mom & participate in our ward function & also take advantage of the free swim day.

Maybe next year will be better :)

First painted piggies-just like Mommy's!

I have wanted to paint Lola's toenails for quite some time but didn't want to because she had these sweet little virgin baby toes. I couldn't bring myself to defile them.

But at 14 months I decided it was okay & I LOVE them!

They look SO cute. I loooove her fat little brown feet. She sat so still in the bumbo while I did it too (of course while eating :))

I have since painted them racy red & they are darling

Action shot!

Snapped this right as she took a tumble off her beloved 4-wheeler.

She LOVES this thing, as does her older brother. The boy who mind you would not go NEAR his own 4-wheeler for a year, then went to only pushing it the next year, & now that he's 3 & wants to ride his sister's constantly, his has broken dangit.

It is so fun though & they both love it.

As you can see he is totally rocking the training wheels. He does SO good! We usually go for a little walk in the early evening before bed. He rides his bike & Lo gets pushed in the little red push car the Lythgoe's gave us. They love it & so do I (although it is challenging. Our sidewalk is so bumpy from all the trees that he needs a boost every few squares). It's so nice to be outside & enjoy the fresh air.

We went to take our old neighbors dinner & see there new baby Kara.

She is darling! It was so great to see Whitney, Gabe, & Ivan too. We sure miss them. He & Tate are the cutest little friends.

You can see Lola enjoyed Kara's little piano kick mat. She LOVED the baby too of course. 

Cute boys playing with their velcro baseball mitts & balls. Ivan's big brother present (Awesome deal at walmart. $3 clearance special. What a find!)

I have had such a great time trying to teach Tate to catch. It is SO funny (& frustrating sometimes haha!) He has an awesome arm & throws like a champ! Not mastering the catching yet though. Who am I to talk though? I STILL can't catch!

He is the cutest little man <3

Hiking with the fam at Snowbasin.

My cute mom & dad planned this outing for us. We rode the gondola up, ate at the lodge at the top, & went for a little hike. It was BEAUTIFUL up there!

I miss snowboarding & hiking. I'm excited for the kids to get a little bit bigger so we can get out & enjoy the outdoors on a different level

Again, an awesome Friedli-Family-Fun-time event planned by Mom & Dad. I had been SO excited to go canoeing again! We didn't go last year because we were all pregnant (& let's be honest I probably would have sunk one ;))

It was SO much fun though! We tipped over once at the very first. Mom sacrificed herself to save Lola haha. It was funny. We had a great time & it was so beautiful up there.

We went to Causey (sp?) this year instead of Mantua. Good thing since we fell out! Apparently the water is some sort of toxic in Mantua (although beautiful :))

We went to Ryan & Lindsay's campsite after to check out their sweet new trailer & to roast hot dogs.

It was a blast! Tate did not care for the fire (apparently I've taught him TOO well & scared him about it!)

Thanks Mom & Dad for all the fun things you plan for us!!!

I love it!

We got to babysit Navy for a couple of hours one day! It was super-fun! Zach & Tessie were moving into their new house this week & had a ton going on. So we came & grabbed her & had some fun for a few hours. My kids loved it! So did Aunt Jenny!

More pics from Snowbasin. You can see it took some warming up for Tater to enjoy the gondola ride. He has gotten SO brave the last few months though! So proud of my cautious little man ;) 

Saw this quote & loved it.

Saw this short story & was completely humbled. Sometimes I get a little discouraged & lonely.

I don't revel in other people's misfortunes, but it is humbling to hear other people's trials & struggles, & it puts my own problems into perspective. This made me feel rotten that I have any pity for myself.

Poor man.

I am so blessed

More August

We had a playdate with Sunni's kids. This pic sucks, but it was of the boys in their teepee & it was SO cute. All I got was Tate's smile. I totally want one of these!! Much easier to set up than a tent but nowhere near as roomy ;) AGAIN! I AM GOING TO HAVE TO FIND AN ALTERNATE MEANS TO STORE & POST MY PHOTOS. I KNOW IT LOOKS LIKE A MESS, BUT YOU HAVE NO IDEA IT HAS TAKEN ME ALMOST AN HOUR TO GET IT TO LOOK EVEN THIS DECENT!!! AAAAaaaaah!The only way I can post these pics is via HTML mode & you can't see them, & it moves your words EVERYWHERE! I'm ready to give up on labeling any of these! ********************************************************************* I got creative & found a new way to mow the lawn since Lola went from LOVING to HATING the hiking backpack: Lock them in the caged baby tramp, throw some gogurts in, mow til they are both wailing to get out, then transfer to the sandbox & hope Lola is not hungry for sand today. She was a hot mess by the time I was done, but it was a success! We had the sister misssionaries over for dinner. I called beforehand to make sure they liked the menu. One did not. So I switched & she apparently did not like the alternative either! She did like my bread though. Haha. It's the thought that counts right? A new construction crew I found to help with some minor home repairs & such. They're pretty cheap labor preferring to be paid in popsicles or fruit snacks ;) Tate said he was building a house for Mommy, Daddy, Tater, Lola, & Sissy. It was so sweet. Things like this make me want to cry though. I feel bad that my kids can't grow up in a classic happy home like I did. Dakota's 7th birthday party! I can't believe this little angelboy is SEVEN! I am so grateful to have his sweet little spirit in our family. We are so blessed. Happy birthday Kota!! The kids absolutely LOVED the giant slip & slide. I was so shocked at how brave Tate was!! Lola loved it too. Yes I went down in my dress. I hadn't planned on swimming but it was too fun to pass up! Group photo everyone was thrilled about *********She might have the cutest bummy & body I have EVER seen!***** ****************This is what I want to show my counselor at therapy tomorrow. I was supposed to work on meditating. I am terrible at it. Technically it's not entirely my fault since he thinks I have ADHD!**** Playing catch with Grammy & Poppy. I found an awesome tiny mitt & it even has VELCRO! That's the kind of mitt my athletic abilities require! Doesn't everyone bake while in their underwear?

Happy August Birthday Month!

Our week in photos:
P.S.-I am using a new storage system for my photos & am obviously having a tough time with the arranging it chooses to do for me. Uggh! I swear I will never get the hang of this stuff! Props for trying??
  My cute littles out for a drive/bike ride. Tate is SO big! He rode 2 blocks like a ROCK STAR!

Oh that squishy face! SO precious <3 Our 2nd time to Beus's Pond to feed the ducks. Our jogging stroller flat for the 2nd time as well. Thankfully we had a back up. No run for Mommy tho. Again :( This time did NOT end in tears though haha! :)
Oh well. Tate had fun pushing Lola around. He drives like his mother. And has her grace. He tripped at least 3 or 4 times while we were there. I had tripped up my front porch steps earlier. Sometimes I'm amazed I function haha!

 Who doesn't love a little naked yoga right?

  Poor TaterSalad. His hand was a swollen mess. I think a mosquito bite had gotten infected. Double antibiotics. Waited for diarrhea to destroy our already utterly failed attempts to POOP in the toilet. (He has the pee thing down. Mostly ;)) he hasn't gotten the runs yet, but HAS pooped his pants several times though -_-

I don't even want to try to delete the duplicate here! On our walks we have passed this sweet ride several times. Yes! It IS a Honda Nighthawk just like I used to have!!! Mine did not have a bug shield which could have came in handy ;) Oh the memories though. Speaking of memories, remembering the great monsoon of '03 Vincie & I got stuck in that summer haha!

OCD at age 3? I believe so. He's screwed between his father & me!

Sorry for the ridiculous selfie. I loved this look though complete with the lipstick. "Very Breakfast at Tiffany's." Would have looked even better minus 15 lbs ;) A few friends would have loved this look, but alas I was only headed to church where fashion does not & should not reign. A lady at my ward liked it though! ;)

I take screenshots or photos of things I read or see that I like. Usually from the scriptures or Ensign, but I saw this post & loved it. Very true! Sometimes I get completely overwhelmed with my problems & forget the simplest solution. Prayer is so powerful. All we have to do is ask!

Tate has mad skills in the school department. Well, I think. I am a proud biased mama though :) He traced Logan's name & his own (Yes he was losing interest by the time we got to his). We made this for his cousin Logan who is at the MTC. He is going to Wisconsin, but is going to an area with their own dialect of Mandarin Chinese or something. What an odd combo!

These photos are in no apparent order. Saturday the kids were with Bobby. I hiked Waterfall Canyon. Man how times have changed. It was fantastic, but I felt like I was on a freaking walking tour. It was SO packed. I am terribly impatient & was trying my hardest not to get annoyed. There were people EVERYWHERE! I prefer more alone time in nature, although I did see the cutest little family with their kids & it made me hopeful that I might have that too one day. I think about taking my kids all the time, they are just WAY to little for one person to handle right now. One day!

We went to IKEA & picked up Aunt Julie on our way. SO fun! We got to see her new house in Sandy. It is darling. We had a great time :)

Cute outfit picture day! Bobby bought her these little tennies in hopes of helping her learn to walk. This is the only outfit they match. It is a pretty comical combo usually :)
We went to see the Wegelin's new house in Farr West. It was beautiful! Jen & I have similar eclectic style so of course I loved it! ;) Tate & Oliver were so cute together too! I love to watch Tate interact with other kids. He is so stinking cute & a love bug. Just like his mommy <3


Oh goodness. Doll overboard! We had an accidental drowning at the duck pond. Navy's doll which was left in our stroller found herself face down drowning in duck poop at the duck pond by Grammy & Poppy's thanks to Miss Lola Lyn. I've been trying to run a lot more & we have ran to the duck pond a few times lately. Tate was seriously upset about the situation though & I think he truly wanted me to jump in & save her. I don't do POOP!

Lucky

Wow. Heavenly Father is in tune. Even when I feel I don't deserve it. I was feeling lonely, sad, guilty, hopeless (yes welcome to the pity party thrown by yours truly ;) I DO love a party! Ha ;)) It's 1 AM. I can't sleep. I was exhausted at 9 pm, yet here I am...Lola started crying. She is usually a pretty good sleeper these days, waking up semi-frequently, but I usually make her self-soothe (thank you all the critics & self-proclaimed baby experts at work). FYI i DO sneak in & give her back her bink & tuck her in-take THAT! And it works too-quickly might I add! I'm up, why not? Tonight I went in & held her. Yes, my little manipulative princess immediately stopped crying. Tonight, I think she knew her mommy was the one that needed to be held & loved. I am so grateful for my kids. What blessings. They enhance every area of my life, they bring out the best in me, & make me want to be a better person. I pray that I can find that in a husband & partner one day. For now, I am grateful & happy with the fact I have a lil best girlfriend. She belly laughs & her face lights up when she sees me. I need that. I ADORE her. Every single part of her is so beautiful & pure perfection. Her painted on baby doll lips, her perfect chubby brown body, her 11 (yes count them) dimples all over her head & neck. She makes me feel so loved & special. She likes me near her all the time. She smiles when I look at & talk to her. Heavenly Father has given me my best girlfriend in her.
And my perfect little man Tate. My dream come true of a boy. He has the most enchanting smile, charming personality, heck he can get away with pooping his pants & I still adore him! ;) He is sensitive, loves to laugh, is thoughtful, funny, silly, so handsome, tons of fun, loves to snuggle, & enlightens me to all the fun details of being a boy. While I can't sword fight with him over the toilet, he still likes me. We may not always see eye to eye, but we always end the day with a little Goodnight Moon, scripture story, hug, a back tickle, a  request to "Sing me song Mommy," a  prayer, & a lippy kiss. I quiz him before bed: Are you my sweetheart? Are you the cutest & sweetest boy in the world? Does Mommy love you more than anything in the universe? Yes, yes, yes he giggles. Sometimes I make him tell me I'm his favorite mom, & I'm pretty haha! Bobby thinks I'm ridiculous. Sometimes a girl just needs to hear it yo... I melt when he tells me he loves me. His face is sunshine to me. I see my family in him & I love it. He has some of my qualities & habits, which in him are actually quite endearing & adorable.
So how can I be sad when I have the perfect man & the perfect girlfriend? When I take a minute to appreciate those facts, I'm not!  Thank you Heavenly Father for your tender mercies & immense blessings! I will try harder to appreciate them every day.