I was going through old pictures from Russ's mom and came across this one of Russ just under 20 years ago:
The funniest thing about this picture is that I had just taken a video of Russ riding on a duck like that at Harmony Park during April, at Davis's birthday party. The best part of all is that Russ told me it was the SAME park! Same duck too! haha!!!!! Here are a few still shots from the video:
Davis is teaching Abby his tricks on how to climb in & out of cribs. Uh oh!
Sophie and I attended the cutest little Mother's Day tea party with other girls in our ward, and their moms. It was an activity day event held at the Manutai's home and was lots of fun!
Abby's birthday fell on a Sunday this year, so the night before, we took her out to celebrate. We went to Red Robin and Suzy and Ellie joined us. Abby was loving her ice cream and didn't stop talking about "Abby's birthday party".
Suzy gave her the cutest swimsuit and she modeled it around her neck while sitting on her little potty!
Sunday morning, on her actual birthday, Abby found a pool full of fun toys. It was like Christmas!
Note: Abby loves school buses and city buses, which she calls "city school bus"es. Her C is 'city' sounds more like "sh" though.
We also celebrated Riggs becoming an Eagle Scout on the same day Abby turned 2. There were 5 other boys in his ward / scout troop who also were awarded their Eagles that night. It was a special meeting and sweet to see Jax sit in his place and receive his Eagle... along with giving Auburn the mother's pin. I am proud of Riggs and all he did to work throughout his scouting years towards his Eagle. He has awesome friends & family to finish it up for him!
That night when we got home from the Eagle Court of Honor, Abby went right back to playing with her new birthday toys. She fed her baby doll and sang her to sleep with "All About that Bass"... which is Abby's current favorite song, titled "Abby's song".
I had to get a picture of Abby and I together on her 2nd birthday... I have one of us on her first birthday so I figured I should make it a tradition!
Monday May 4th, we had a picnic at the cemetery. It is nice to take flowers or something there to feel like we are including Riggs in our lives, even though I do know his body is there and his spirit is not. I hope to at least feel his spirit close when we visit (and other times too)! My mom found the perfect little plant with an American flag to leave at his grave, in honor of him receiving his Eagle the night before.
My mom got a new selfie stick and we were trying to set it up with her phone when her phone rang. Haha!
Selfie stick success, minus the weird looks on all 3 of the kids' faces!
Sweetest sleepy girl
Abby got sick a few days after her birthday... it was so sad. We washed lots of pajamas, sheets, pillowcases, blankets, and towels that day!
Cuddles are the best!
Mother's Day with my two cute kids! I decided this year to write them each a letter about why I love being their mom. It's tradition to celebrate mothers on that day, but I really do feel so lucky to be a mom... especially to these two! Hopefully they felt honored since they are the ones that make me a mom. The sign shown in the picture tells exactly how I feel about them!
This is Abby's best friend Kozie who lives right across the street. They are so funny when they play together and I thought it was cute that they sat themselves down inside the pool to play!
I took this picture to capture how horrible Abby's hair is when we don't comb it. Yikes!
This is much better! The back is barely long enough to fit in a ponytail but Abby's favorite way for me to style her hair is "2 ponytails".
More of Abby and Kozie playing in the pool! This time they're matching!
This was a funny set up Abby put together to work on her laptop!
I love being married to a handy man. I saw something on Pinterest that I wanted to re-create in our home and Russ made it happen, thanks to his creativity and skills!
This picture captures the queen that Abby is. The ball in her hand is Noah's. She wanted it and I made Noah give it to her, just so she would be quiet. Not the best parenting move, especially since it taught her that she just has to cry to she gets what she wants. Poor Noah!
Noah finished up his second season of basketball, and it was a great season! He scored lots of points every game and got better each week. Only these 5 boys made it to the last game of the season. Some of his best friends - Wyatt, Nathan, and David were on the team and Scott Graff was their coach. They lost only one game this season, and beat that team they lost to, the second time they played them. So I guess you can call that a tie for first place!
We were a few weeks late celebrating Abby's birthday with the Sherwood family, but that just meant that her "birthday party" continued on for awhile. Perfect! Abby loved being spoiled and opening up more presents.
I took this picture a few minutes after Russ got home from work one day. He is the sweetest dad. I'm not sure who is more excited for him to come home each day between me and Abby!
We got invited to an awards assembly at Noah's school where he earned 2 awesome awards at the assembly and then another great award in his classroom afterward!
He received an award for Principal's Honor Roll (meaning he had straight A's all 4 quarters), and he also received the national fitness award.
After the awards assembly, we went to his classroom where he received the "outstanding student" award and then performed in a play as a lion. He did a great job and we were so proud of him!
(Noah's 4th grade teacher, Ms. Strunk)
It was a big day for Noah... that same night, he received many awards at his pack meeting. First, he received the basketball pin for work he did with his den.
Next, he received his Webelos badge that he has been working on since he joined Webelos last October.
Finally, he received his Arrow of Light, the final award to receive in Cub Scouts. He worked hard in order to get this award before the Cub Scout program changed on June 1st. Usually, boys have 1 year to work as a Webelo and toward their Arrow of Light, but Noah did it all in 7 months.
(Noah with Sister Farmer, the Cub Master.)
Noah got to walk over the bridge, out of the Cub Scout program and into the Boy Scout program. Brother Eyestone welcomed him into the 11-year old Scout program and Noah is excited to hang with the older boys!
(Sister McRae was one of Noah's den leaders, and was so great!)
This is Abby at pack meeting... she LOVES dogs!
Noah is giving me the Mother's pin in this picture... I will always cherish those pins because I have loved watching him learn and grow through the Cub Scout program!
Noah's awards from pack meeting!
Our family has been working on memorizing 'The Family: A Proclamation to the World' and every Tuesday night for FHE this is what we do. It sounds redundant, but I will say that my testimony of the importance of families and each of our roles in the family, has grown. Our stake presidency issued this challenge as a way to commemorate the 20-year anniversary of when the proclamation was issued. This particular night for FHE, Abby was holding our poster and making sure everyone was participating. Sophie wasn't doing it and she pointed at Sophie and said "sing it!" hahaha! We all laughed really hard :)
The last day of school was May 21... I finished the quote for the chalkboard just in time for Noah to get home from school that afternoon!
We have a tradition of going to Bahama Bucks on the last day of school every year, and then again on the last day of summer break. This year, Grandma, Suzy, Ellie, Auburn, and Roxy joined us!
May 21 was also Tayler's graduation from high school!
(please excuse my wardrobe malfunction)
Ellie and Roxy joined us at the graduation and had a late-night dinner with us afterward at Chick-fil-a. These cousins love being together!
Abby loves her light-up Minnie Mouse high heels!
The Saturday after school got out, we took Noah and his friend Wyatt out to celebrate all his success from his 4th grade school year. He chose lunch at 'Teriyaki Madness', and then we saw a movie afterward. His first choice was The Avengers movie but I wouldn't allow it. (mean mom!) We saw Tomorrowland instead.
Abby loves the cozy coupe at Grandma & Poppy's house.
We went swimming at Grandma & Poppy's on Memorial Day...
We found some hand-me-down boots that Abby is sadly almost grown out of already, but she LOVES them. She calls them "grandpa boots" because she always sees Grandpa Price wear boots.
Abby still loves her blankies...
I had to sneak this picture of Sophie and Noah doing the dishes because Sophie's whole outfit was so funny. The "beanie" fit more like one of those jewish hats (I'm not sure what they're called!). We found out later that she was using the beanie to cover the bangs she had just cut. Oopsy!
Boots, blankie, and binky... some of Abby's essential items!
Summer fun with neighborhood friends...
Making do with the only pool we have when it's hot outside!
We tried out the new Mesa High pool... lots of fun with a lazy river!
May 30th, I ran my first 10k! It was a hot time of year to sign up for this race, but I've been doing the couch to 10k app and finished my training the week of this race. I had thought about finding a 10k to run out of town but then saw this "froyo 10k" here in Scottsdale. Luckily, the weather all throughout my training was great for the time of year. The day of the race was really hot though. I struggled the last 2 miles! I made a goal to not stop the whole time, which I accomplished. Even if my jog was REALLY slow at the end, it was still a jog :) Russ came and watched me, then we shared a frozen yogurt afterward!
Sophie and Noah did a kool aid & candy stand... still trying to earn spending money for our summer vacation!
Alisse took these pictures of Abby & Davis in nursery... it was one of their last times in nursery together before the Baldwins moved to another ward.
I had to do a side by side of the top picture (their first time in nursery together) and the bottom picture (one of their last times together). So cute!
Noah was "grandchild of the month" and got to go out to eat with Grandma & Poppy. He chose Teriyaki Madness :)
