Father's Day Weekend

Father's Day weekend started out for us with a power outage and then a "brown out" (When the power comes back on but not enough to run anything.) So, when Kevin got home from work on Friday, we jumped in the car and went to eat pizza in a neighboring city that still had power!

Here is Brooklyn outside the restaurant while we waited for out food.

We ended up eating late so as soon as we got home the girls went to bed and Kevin and I relaxed with some NCIS while I sewed costumes for my luau the next day.

Saturday morning was spent finishing up my costumes and then we were off to the DuPage Airport where we performed, ate, and then watched the remainder of the show.

Brooklyn really loved watching the dancers and charged the stage several times. Luckily, Kevin and I utilized great team work and were able to keep her from presenting the "Brooklyn Show" to our clients.

When we got home from the luau there was still plenty of sunshine outside so we headed to the Green Trails pool!

Brooklyn and Lily both loved swimming with their daddy. In fact, it was all smiles until we told Brooklyn it was time to go home. Then she melted down, begging her daddy to let her stay and swim like Ariel. She even promised he could be Prince Eric if we could stay. Then mommy stood up and started walking toward her...to which she responded by yelling "Oh NO!" loudly while frantically backing up against the fence. Nice! I'm sure everyone at the pool thought I was going to take her home and beat her after that reaction. Don't worry, her punishment only consisted of her apologizing to her daddy and asking nicely if we could come back later. :)

Sunday morning we got up at 6:30am. Brooklyn gave Kevin his father's day card and gift card to Home Depot and I made him blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Then we packed up and went to church. After church we let Kevin have a long nap while I made lasagna and grilled mushrooms and asparagus for Kevin's special request dinner. After that we took pictures of Kevin with the girls in their special Father's Day shirts.

Brooklyn's shirt says "Daddy does my hair!" and Lily's shirt says "Don't look at me...that smell is coming from daddy!" As you can tell from the pictures, everyone was in a really good mood.

The next day we went to Home Depot and Kevin bought himself a new tool box and a super fancy fan with his gift card. I think it turned out to be a pretty successful Father's Day weekend and I am looking forward to many more!

Happy Father's Day!

What Makes a Dad

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so,

He called it ... Dad

-Author Unknown

A Dad is a person
who is loving and kind,
And often he knows
what you have on your mind.
He's someone who listens,
suggests, and defends.
A dad can be one
of your very best friends!
He's proud of your triumphs,
but when things go wrong,
A dad can be patient
and helpful and strong
In all that you do,
a dad's love plays a part.
There's always a place for him
deep in your heart.
And each year that passes,
you're even more glad,
More grateful and proud
just to call him your dad!

-Author Unknown


If everyone had a father
Who was more like you,
There'd be more laughing, joy and singing;
Fewer people would be blue.There'd be much more understanding;
Crime and hate could not prevail.
We'd all be so contented,
We wouldn't need a jail.If everyone had a father
Who was more like you,
The whole world would be blessed,
Just as I am blessed with you.

By Karl Fuchs

A little girl needs Daddy
For many, many things:
Like holding her high off the ground
Where the sunlight sings!
Like being the deep music
That tells her all is right
When she awakens frantic with
The terrors of the night.

Like being the great mountain
That rises in her heart
And shows her how she might get home
When all else falls apart.

Like giving her the love
That is her sea and air,
So diving deep or soaring high
She'll always find him there.

-Author Unknown

To all the amazing fathers in my life, I love you and am so thankful for the support, kindness, love, peace, and joy you have brought into my life. Happy Father's Day!

I'm a CARPENTER!

Well not really, but pretty close! This year I decided I wanted to learn a new skill, so with the help of Kevin and a great website called Knock Off Wood, I was able to start and finish my first project ever...a Headboard!


I started off by going to Home Depot to pick up my lumber. People seemed to think it was weird for a little stay-at-home mom to be hanging out in the lumber section of the store, and none of the employees really took me seriously. In fact, the man who helped me collect all my wood left me with a roll of his eyes and the words, "Good luck! You're gonna need it!"


Well I didn't really need any luck, just a little help from Jennie to hold my wood down while I screwed things together and Kevin to lug the thing around (it turned out to be VERY heavy). Other than that, I cut, drilled, screwed, nailed, glued, sanded, and stained the whole thing ALL BY MYSELF!


And if you ask me, it turned out pretty nice! It didn't come out perfect, but it works. I got confused about hiding the screws, so you can see the screw wholes on the sides, but the rest are hidden.


It was also a bit of a task to figure out where to do everything and what tools to use since we don't have a garage or a million dollars. But eventually a tarp in the living room, a little extra space on our porch, a chop saw, hammer, and power drill did the job.


My next project will be to make matching bedside tables... and learn how to grunt like Tim the Tool Man Taylor! Until then, I'm out like trout!

Lily is 4 months old!

Lily is officially 4 months old! We just had her 4 month well checkup and it went great. She is 25 inches long (3 inches taller than Brooklyn at this age) and 15 pounds (5 pounds less than Brooklyn at this age). She was in the 75th percentile all around and the Doctor and nurse both commented on how perfectly proportioned she is.

Two funny things from the appointment: They couldn't believe how chunky her thighs were, which I thought was funny because they are half the size Brooklyn's were, and they couldn't believe how developmentally advanced she is, which I thought was funny because her cousin Audrey is kicking her butt developmentally and they are the same age. They kept saying she is more like a 6 month old and I couldn't help thinking that they would just die if they saw Audrey crawling around and doing push ups at 4 months!


In non-health related news, Lily is starting to get a very funny sense of humor. She thinks we are all very funny and has even learned how to courtesy laugh when she knows we are trying to be funny but are not succeeding!


She has gotten very good at using her hands. She loves this ball but her favorite toy to play with is the diaper wipe bag. It makes crinkly noises that she just can't get enough of.

She went on her very first hike and loved it. We weren't able to start her as early as Brooklyn since we have no mountains here, but I don't think she'll be too wounded.

She went "swimming" for the first time at her Grandma Hanks' house. She didn't love it, but she didn't hate it either...baby steps right?


She learned how to roll from her tummy to her back. We are very proud of her but unfortunately, her head is starting to get really flat now that I cant keep her on her belly any more.

And last of all, she has finally learned how to let her big sister know that she doesn't want to play. Both of my girls are very vocal, but Lily only cries when she is hungry and when Brooklyn starts to hover around her. Enjoy!

Family Fun in Utah!

On Tuesday, June 8th, My little sister Liz got sealed in the Draper Temple to her husband Tony! Thus, I got to spend 6 wonderful days in Utah!

I started off in Kaysville where Lily and I got to visit with the entire Hanks clan. Friday night we slowly trickled in, chatted, ate, and then slept.


Saturday morning we woke up to french toast and pancakes and then a fantastic hike up Adam's Canyon!


Brian and Natalie worked the hardest (they hiked with their kids on their shoulders) but Tyler worked pretty hard too. He lugged all our water and camera's up the mountain!


Later that day Mom Hanks treated all the girls to pedicures! It felt great to get my legs massaged after the hike and it was fun to do something exciting to an otherwise unattractive part of me.


When we got home mom put together a delicious BBQ while the kids got to play on the new blow up water park. Lily actually did pretty good in the cold water but preferred to roll around on the blankets with her aunts and cousin.

Lily and Aunt Sara even got to soak in some vitamin D while relaxing by the trampoline.

The next day we all went to church, came home and chatted, ate a fantastic dinner while laughing hysterically at family stories, and then headed our separate ways.

I ended up in Pleasant Grove with the Uda gang where I got to meet my brother's wife Scarlet for the first time, as well as my niece Malia, my sister's in-laws, Peggy and Steve, and Liz's husband Tony who I had only seen for 5 minutes last year.

The next day was Girl's Day! We started off with lunch at Olive garden where we got to tell funny stories and catch up with each other.


It was really neat to hang out with all my sisters and my mom again. My only regret was that Pae, Erin, and Scarlet couldn't be there. Pae lives in Jordon and definitely couldn't have made the trip, Erin was on a business trip out of state, and Scarlet couldn't get work off for the day. We missed them all VERY much!


After lunch we headed to Thanksgiving Point where we watched the movie "Killers". It was fun because we were 5 of 10 people in the theater and got to laugh as loud as we wanted to without getting yelled at.


Later that night we met up with Scarlet and got manicures and pedicures together. I just had my nails painted since I had my toes done a few days earlier, thus, I got finished first and took on camera duty.

Post Pedicure from left to right: Scarlet, Sarah (and baby), Becca, Me (Naomi), and Liz.

The next day was Liz's sealing. It was a beautiful ceremony and so neat to have almost all of us there. We missed Chris, Pae, Munro, Erin, Taber, and Kevin but were amazed that we got as many of us there as we did!

Here is the happy couple post sealing. Good job Tony and Liz!

It was cool to see all my crazy sibling again. I fit in perfectly when I am with them...go figure!

Married Uda girls from youngest to oldest: Elizabeth Mucci, Sarah Ioane, Naomi Hanks, Rebecca Rigg, and Rachel Murdock.

The Uda Fam! Jake didn't get the memo about wearing black and white...what a rebel!

The next day I wanted to get in one more hike before I was deprived of mountains again, so Jake and I strapped up Lily and headed up Battle Creek Canyon.


It was a beautiful day and a beautiful hike. I really do miss the easy access to nature that Utah has to offer. Especially the mountains, waterfalls, and family camp sites!


Luckily for me, Jake was feeling generous and carried Lily up the whole hike and back down again. She loved every second of it...of course, anyone who gets to hike without doing any work probably should enjoy hiking!


After we finished the hike, I headed home, showered, packed my bags, and headed to the airport. Lily managed to pick up some kind of puking bug in that time and was able to barf all over her car seat before we got on the plane, and then... on me, my leg, my shirt, two towels, a lava lava, her kiddopotamus, my backpack, the floor, the wall, and the man next to me before we got home. It was the most traumatic experience of my life but we made it home safe and sound and are grateful for the time we spent in Utah and for the wonderful house we came home to in Chicago!