Wasatch Back Relay!

We have had the best couple of weeks. We have been visiting Grandparents, running races, and driving to California. I thought I would start by bragging about my husband.

Geoff participated in the Wasatch Back Relay, a relay race with 12 team members that goes from Logan to Park City. Geoff's cousin and uncle are actually the founders of the race and have done an incredible job. The first year I think they had 30 teams and this year, 5 years later, they had 579 teams!

Geoff is not a runner and didn't really have time to train for the race but he did it. and their team did really well! They came in 101 overall. It was so inspiring I might not be such a wimp next year and run!

Not my best day.

Yesterday Aria told me that I looked "weird" 4 times.
Then she told me that dinner was "disgusting".
Must not have been my best day.

Booster seats.

This post is for all those mom with bigger kids. What is the better booster seat? Does it matter? What do you like?

I love to read.

I just finished reading these books. They are really cute books I would highly recommend them.

Opposites attract

They say that "opposites attract", I think they (who ever they are) are right. Aria and Zach are best friends and they are COMPLETELY opposite. Hair, eyes, mouth, nose, all opposite. I just recently realized they have one more opposite. Aria has what the Hill family fondly refers to as the "Hill bum". Her "cheeks" are never covered and her swimming suit and underwear are always riding up her little cracker.





Now Zach has the opposite problem. He has what the Johansen family fondly refers to as the "Johansen bum", which means NO bum. This is why we often see him sporting the plumber look.

So in the words of Paula Abdul, "And you know--it ain't fiction, just a natural fact, we come
together cuz opposites attract".

Memorial Day and Laundry

For Memorial Day, we spent the day on the boat. It was a beautiful day filled with fun and laughter. It was the day that I got back on a wake board after a 3 1/2 year absence. I got right up but it took a while to used to it again. It was so much fun and I have been paying for it for 3 days. I am so so SO sore.

Laila didn't have as much fun as the rest of us, she didn't love having to wear her life jacket.

Aria spent the day in her daddy's arms. Sometimes being the favorite parent doesn't leave him with many opportunities to do anything other then what Aria wants him to do.

Zach loves Laila so much. He is always wanting to hold and snuggle her. I sure hope his mom has a little girl.

It was a wonderful holiday weekend but I am not so sure about the cleanup. I spent Tuesday doing 13 loads of laundry. As I finished folding all the laundry I wished that I had taken a picture. I decided that laundry is the WORST household chore. If anyone likes to do laundry please share your secrets!

Camping fun.

Last week Geoff and I decided that we wanted to take the girls camping. This would be both Aria and Laila's first time camping, it was worth it! It was so much fun. We started the trip off with a torrential down pour 30 seconds after we got our tent up, and a 35 degree drop so it was very cool. Laila enjoyed eating rocks and dirt and being held the ENTIRE time because she kept eating the rocks and dirt.

Aria was in her element, lots of dirt to roll around in, lots of junk food and her favorite people surrounding her 24/7.

Geoff was so happy to have a few days off of work to spend time with us. In reality he only really spent time with Aria, she made sure that he did absolutely everything with her and for her. She misses her dad.

I was so happy that ALL of my sisters and my sister-in-law Sarah could be there with us. It definitely was a party. We ate the BEST food and had wonderful conversation and created lots of memories.

We had SO much fun I can't wait to do it again!

While in Utah...

This last week we packed up the car and headed to Utah. It was a great trip because we rode with Sarah and the twins in their van. We did so many fun seeing friends, and playing with cousins.

Aria helped Grandpa make Swedish Pancakes, a Hill tradition.

After 2 years of getting her hair cut with kitchen scissors, Aria got her first "professional" haircut.

We always love visiting Grandma Joeen because we get the cutest pictures taken.

We also got to help auntie Kelsey get ready for her Junior Prom. She looked absolutely stunning.

I couldn't resist putting up this picture. It is my favorite picture of my favorite twins. They look so grown up and I just want to squeeze them!

As you can see we had so much fun. I am so glad that we were able to be there for both our mothers on Mother's Day. Being away from our mom's has made it that much more apparent how much we love them and need them. Love you!

Speaking of Vampires...

My daughter is a vampire and I only have myself to blame. When I was pregnant with Laila, I read all the books in the Twilight series. I thought the book was so good and I had a crush on Edward and I thought that vampires were so interesting, blah blah. Now Laila is one of them and I am not sure how I feel about that.

I keep wondering, if I just hadn't read those book would she be normal? But alas my fascination with vampires has resulted in Laila's teeth.

Then there is Jacob Black the werewolf. I thought that he was kind of cute and I felt bad for the way that Bella treated him. So again, while I was pregnant with Laila I thought a lot about how poor Jacob grew so tall and big while he was still very young. But alas my fascination with werewolves has resulted in Laila growing so tall and big while she is still very young.

This picture doesn't show it very good but Laila's feet hang off her car seat to her ankles and her head hits the sun visor.

Next time I am pregnant I will only read books about nice, smart, athletic, funny, contributors to society instead of vampires and werewolves.

Laila's Constipated

"nuff said.

Happy Birthday Russ!!

Today is my baby brothers birthday! He is 17 years old...WHAT?!?! As a mother it is weird when my kids get older, but it is way crazy when my little brothers get older. I hold Russell as a 2-5 year old in my head. Now those were the days. Russ was definitely the cutest kid in the world and he totally knew it, boy did he work it. He understood that he had 5 mothers and he had each one of us wrapped around his little fingers. I am sure none of you knew this but I was always Russell's favorite. I could get him to do things when no one else could. Also my name was one of his first words.

Happy Birthday, I Love You!!!

Happy Birthday April!!

Today is my little sister April's birthday. She is 22 years old. How did that happen?!?! I feel like it was just last year that we were sharing a room, playing house and rolling on the barrels. What happened to the last 10 years? Now she is so grown up having all sorts of grown up adventures.

The good thing about growing up is realizing how precious my family is. 10 years ago I was still very mean to my little sister. I thought she was so annoying and just wanted her to leave me alone. How times have changed. I feel so glad that I have 4 best friends, my mom and all my sisters, I am so lucky!

April has become a remarkable woman that knows what she wants out of life and is not afraid to go after impossible dreams. She is the best sister and Auntie on the block!

I hope they call me on a mission!!!

My little brother Douglas received his mission call today and he is headed to Mexico City West. We are so excited for him. There are only a few boys that I have ever known that are as ready as Doug to go on their missions.

Doug is one of the most amazing people that I know. He not only is a wonderful brother, he is a fantastic uncle and a great friend. When I am home he always wants to hold and play with my kids, and he never complains when I ask him to watch Aria and Laila.

The last time Doug came to visit us he would study "Jesus the Christ" and the Scriptures every part of down time we had. He is a wonderful example of goodness, devotion, conviction and hard work.

Doug is so talented and fun to be around. I am so proud of my little brother! We are going to miss him very much, but we know there is no place he would rather be then sharing the gospel with those in Mexico.

Doug's Eagle Scout Court.

WHATEVER!!!

So Target USED to be my favorite store. My cousin Camille just got married and I was on her blog this morning and she had quite an interesting post. Well, it seems that Target has instituted a new policy that you can only return two items within a twelve month period without a receipt and they cannot exceed $20.00. Seriously is that the stupidest thing you have ever heard?!?! When we registered at Target for our wedding their return policy was dumb, but at least they let us return the 30 cookie sheets that we received without a receipt. But this is ridiculous! I remember the nightmare of returning gifts so I will never buy another wedding gift at Target. I hope you tell anyone that might be getting married not to register at Target and if you want to buy a gift for someone at Target don't forget to include the gift receipt!

Who needs a mom?

Aria has always preferred her dad over anyone, including me. At least I was still the mom... not anymore. For the past few months Aria has called me "Leena". I thought it was just a phase and she would get over it but the last few days she has not called me "mom" even once.

She has been doing this for so long that I don't notice. But it makes me a little self conscious when we are around other people because everyone notices and makes comments. Has anyone else had their kid do this?

I might have the cutest kids in the WORLD!

Today was a great day! What made it such a great day? I played with my kids, that's all. I didn't worry about getting anything done today and just played. My house is a disaster, phone calls were not made, computer work didn't get done and projects are unfinished but my kids are happy. I usually get so caught up in what needs to be accomplished that I let the TV do my parenting. Not today.

Laila entertained us with her cheesy smiles and "melt-your-heart" laugh. She is so snuggly and always pats my back when she hugs me.

Aria is getting so big. It hit me today that she is not a little girl anymore, I am sad. Today she said the prayer for Family Night and she blessed that we would not go astray. (Her favorite song is "Follow the Prophet"). At times like these I want her to stop growing up. I suddenly don't mind the tantrums and drama, in one moment I am reminded that I love being a mother.
So today I definitely have the best kids in the world and there is nothing I would rather do then play with my girls.

Potty update

Potty training really IS a good amount of work and frustration. So after those first few days things didn't go so well. Aria pooped in her pants 2 times and peed once. The worst part was the 5 days that Aria held her poop. She was cranky and irritable (I totally understand) and just wouldn't go. The good news is that she hasn't had a"wet" accident in 6 days and she did finally poop in the toilet. My mom assures me I have a few more weeks until I am out of the woods.

So there you have the intricacies of Aria's elimination processes, I am not sure if you really wanted to know.

Potty Poo-Poo Wee-Wee

These are just a few of the words that we have been using a lot of lately. I have had enough of spending all my money on diapers. This Saturday was d-day, the potty training has begun.
We started the day with training a baby doll how to go potty on the toilet then it was Aria's turn. She started the day off with an accident and Geoff told me just to put her diaper back on. But I was determined. We stuck to it and she eventually went in the toilet. It then took her a few more accidents to realize the sensation of needing to go to the bathroom.

Aria loves getting potty trained. She has 100% attention of her mom and dad, she gets lots of yummy treats and prizes when she goes in the toilet and she gets to play the computer on the toilet while she waits.

I want to announce that Aria has been a champion! Today she hasn't had any accidents. She even went to the bathroom in Nursery. She told us she needed to go to the bathroom without any prompting and she POOPED!! Now, it has only been two days and I might be jumping the gun, but potty training has not been the headache that I thought it would.

Good Job Ari!

Easter!

Easter was so wonderful because Sarah drove to Vegas from California so we could all be together. We had our annual Easter Egg hunt on Saturday. We have a little kids hunt first. All the kids did very well the Easter Bunny was generous.

Look at those eggs!

After the little kid's hunt we had one for the "big kids". This is the best because the Easter Bunny puts plenty of cash in the eggs. There wasn't a lot of space to hid the eggs so we all decided to create "impairments" to make it more challenging to find the eggs. Here we are.

IMPAIRMENTS*

*Sarah made this list. It was so good I stole it.

DARCY: Wore a helmet with red goggle glasses that impaired his visual depth perception.

RUSSELL: Wore swim goggles with masking tape impairing his vision entirely.

DOUG: Wore fake hair that increased dehydration in the hot sun & tied his feet together with a rope impairing his mobile ability, requiring him to jump & leap.

APRIL: Wore hot pad mitts extremely limiting her ability to pickup & deposit eggs in her basket.

SARAH: I had to ride a broom. (There should be no interpretation into this impairment by the reader)

ALEENA: Wore a hand towel over her head? This would not be considered an impairment especially because the video camera caught you removing this impairment at the beginning of the hunt and then secretly replacing it at the end. huh, wonder why she received the largest portion of eggs...cheat'r. (it is very hard to keep a towel on your head when you are trying to bend over to pick up eggs full of money.)

GEOFF: Wore his clothes. He came AS IS. That was enough of an impairment for him...poor guy.

Our attempt at a family picture.Aria is waiting for the Easter Bunny to deliver her basket.
James, Olivia, Aubri and Aria