Sunday Afternoon!

Aren't Sunday afternoons some of your favorite times? I love them!

Spring Spectacular!

Haillie is our little gymnast. She does cartwheels on the way to her room, she does cartwheels on the way to the car - always, always cartwheels EVERYWHERE!
It was fun to see her do her routines on the bars, beam, floor and vault. She is a talented athlete.

Playing Hookey!

Haillie's school teacher has been away for a week now, and had a sub take her class. Not that I'm all that impressed with her regular teacher this year (I know that sounds a little rude, but, don't ya hate it when you hear such good things about a teacher only to be disappointed for a whole year,) but I'd had enough of Haillie's "review work" and "silent reading time," so I got her out early and we took off to the Children's Museum at the Gateway. Trent met us there and we had a ball as a family!
(A little note to myself to laugh at what a freak I am about germs... someday! Can you just imagine all the little critters running around a place like this... it's enough to make me lose my mind - and my lunch! It was really a big step for me to let them touch this disease-ridden stuff... and they only sanitized 10 or 12 times during our stay.)

Taryn and Daddy playing in the water!






Haillie collecting eggs and feeding the chickens.






















Haillie learning how a crane works.


















Look at my little climbers! I'm such a proud mommy!


















Taking a little ride on the horse!














Our little family.

Steve James Concert

Haillie had to sing a song at the Prevention Demensions concert last night at her school. The song she and her 2nd grade students sang was called: I've decided. It's about making smart choices not to drink, do drugs and commit crimes :).
She has a beautiful singing voice. One of my favorite places in the whole world to be is here at our house when Haillie is singing a tune while just hanging around. I love to be in the kitchen with the window open while she is out dancing and singing in the back yard. It is so peaceful to wake up to that sweet voice singing in the morning.

A Tribute To My "Amazing" Wife

Isn't she beautiful?

It only took one look from her piercing blue eyes and she had me under her spell.

This is more for Jen than anyone else, but really, you should all know how much I love and admire my wife, Jen.

So, here are some of the things I love about Jen...





She's beautiful! I'm the guy people look at and wonder "How did he get a girl like that?"

Family is her #1 priority (Dr. Pepper is a close #2). She sacrifices so much for us!

She's smarter than me. I no that ain't sayin all that much, but I really respekt her intellectuality and valyoo her opinyun.

She LOVES her kids. It shows with how protective she is of them. They've never seen a beer commercial and when Taryn was born we painted our whole house with, not one, but two coats of sanitizer. It's a compliment to my convictions that my girls should not get married until they're done with college, and that after they're married is the only time it's appropriate to kiss someone other than their dad.

She has unwaivering faith and love for the gospel. (Funny comments are not appropriate here)

She's trying SO hard to learn how to cook. And she's doing a great job, by the way. It's been a loooong time since she's baked a cake upside down in the oven. You should really try her coconut shrimp or her french dip sandwiches, YUMMY!

She understands that I have a need to FISH! And she's good to let me go whenever that urge gets the best of me.

She's my best friend!

She has great taste in music (with the exception of Yaz and Dashboard Confessional).

She comes from great stock! Ha ha, sorry, i just made myself laugh. That was just a funny way of saying that I LOVE MY IN-LAWS.

She makes me laugh, not always with the jokes she tells, but sometimes with the things she does (Please refer to the "She's trying so hard to learn how to cook portion of this tribute ;o). Sorry babe. I love that she can laugh at herself too.

I love the way she talks about me to other people. It almost makes me want to marry myself!

Jen, you are the love of my life. Thank you so much for everything you do, for who you are, and for loving me.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Love,

Your Husband
(Trent)

Going Green!

Don't forget to use your REusable shopping bags instead of those 'yucky' plastic ones!
Let's all do a little to keep the world beautiful for our children.

Our Music!

I wanted to tell a little about our music because it really is an important part of our life. Trent has always loved music and has introduced me to some very good bands (Big Head Todd, Travis and Stereophonics... before they were 'mainstream'). He is always coming home saying, "you gotta hear this". Sometimes I wonder if he isn't in the wrong profession, maybe he should be a 'Band Discoverer'.... I just made up that job, I think, but it sounds good. And, also, Haillie is a 'music lover'. She is always rockin' out with her ipod on in the back yard... singing for all the world to hear - her favorite bands/songs right now are: Colbie Calliet, Popular (from Wicked), and the staple - High School Musical. Anyway, I put some of our music on the blog just because I love it and I could. So now, I'll explain:
Jack Johnson is the guy we turn to to just 'chill'. It reminds me of when we were first married, with not much money, and a big back yard... so we would BBQ, bring out the baby pool for Haillie and blast Jack... he's good for that still.
John Denver is one of my all-time favorite musicians... I remember listening to him with my dad in our yellow Granada on the way to the Frost Top to get a 'big wheel'. My all-time favorite Denver song is 'For You'... if you want an amazing love song - this is the one. But really anything by him is great (except the song called, "Please daddy, don't get drunk for Christmas" - I really can't recommend that one).
Closer to You - The Wallflowers - this is typical of Trent... He hears about I song I've heard on the radio and really liked, then, soon enough, we'll be driving somewhere and he'll put in a CD and it's that exact song. That's what happened with this song, so I had to put it here to remember.
Let my love open the Door - Trent has certain bedtime songs he has sung to Haillie through the years (Wooden Heart by Elvis and Sweet Child of Mine by Guns n Roses) and I couldn't find good versions of those songs, but I did find the song I sing to Taryn each night - Let my love open the door.
Last but not least - my favorite artist of the moment - Leigh Nash. I love this song - My Idea of Heaven, for so many reasons. If there was a song to explain what I feel about meeting and marrying Trent, it would be this song; there is a line that basically says, when I looked at you, I recognized my fate (cheesy, but very true for me). For those of you that know how we met, doesn't that say it exactly right? Love at first sight... or at least knowing I would love him the first time I met him. I really do feel like our very imperfect family is the closest thing I've ever experienced of Heaven on Earth. I LOVE my family... I adore you Trent, I am in love with my girls: Haillie and Taryn, and I can't get enough of my teddy bear, Jesse.
So that's it for now, I will put more on and change them up, but for now... have a good listen.