What's a Nerd?

Ellie: Mom, how do dinosaurs throw up?

~~~~~

Ellie: What itches cats?

~~~~~

Ellie: Is the sky squishy?

~~~~~

Ellie: Will you turn on the warm conditioner? I'm freezing cold.

~~~~~

Ellie: Grandma, can I brush my teeth in your bathroom?

Rob's Mom: Sure. Here's your toothbrush, you can go to town.

Ellie: Oh no, my mom doesn't want to go anywhere tonight.

~~~~~

Ellie: Mom, what's a nerd?

Me: What do you mean? (I wasn't sure if she was asking about the candy or a type of person)

Ellie: On tv someone said, "You're getting on my nerds."

I giggle and send her downstairs to ask Rob so he can have a good laugh too.

Ellie: (later that day) Mom, you're getting on my nerds.

The Hunting Party

Sometimes it's hard for us to find time to hang out together as a family. I know it will only get worse the older our kids get so I really shouldn't complain. But it's kind of fun to get creative in finding ways to be together. For example, in the late summer Rob would go out on the desert in the evenings to look for elk to prepare for archery season. Since he is such an awesome husband and father, he would invite us to go with him. And because we would normally get back way after their bedtime, we would get the girls in their jammies and head out on the desert. I'm sure the girls and I scared away more elk than we saw but we had so much fun together and Ellie got really good at spotting elk and antelope.

Our favorite Ellie quote from our hunting expeditions:

Do elks like cheerios?

Ellie in her "little kid hunting pants" - her words, not mine :)

New Favorite

The girls and I can't get enough of this song. I love everything about it :)

Ellie + Grandma + The Cabin = Awesome Weekend!

Rob's mom took just me and the girls to the cabin a little while ago and we had so much fun!
We stopped at Bear World on the way there and saw elk, bison, moose, black bears, and grizzly bears. Ellie loved the petting zoo and wanted to go on the rides over and over. Piper kept pointing out the window yelling, "What's that?" over and over. They loved it. Over the weekend we went hiking, ate ice cream in West, got giant suckers at the candy store, spent lots of time at the book store, caught guppies, and drank hot chocolate.

Pictures and a video to prove it :)

Untitled from Monica Hemsley on Vimeo.

I love Ellie's reaction to one of the animals - I can't remember what it was.

The Party Planning Committee

A few weeks after the Kentucky wedding we had a reception back home. It was a garden reception complete with five kinds of Creamies, four kinds Henry Weinhards (think root beer and cream soda), and a delicious spread of food that had you coming back for more. It took a lot of work from a lot of people but man, was it fun!

And it was all for this cute couple:

photo courtesy of dreamcatcher portraits
~~~~~

So without further ado, I would like to introduce you to the most amazing party planning committee you'll ever meet:

~Jana~
The Mastermind
Planner, Director, Florist, Decorator, Idea Machine


~Sarah~
The Worker Bee
Smarty Pants and Problem Solver
photo courtesy of dreamcatcher portraits


~Monica~
The Apprentice
Learning the ropes and following directions :)

photo courtesy of dreamcatcher portraits

~Ellie~
The Dancer and In-house Entertainment

~Piper~
Eater of Popsicles

~~~~~

The Party:

Seriously delicious cupcakes
photo courtesy of dreamcatcher portraits

Amazing flowers

photo courtesy of dreamcatcher portraits



photo courtesy of dreamcatcher portraits



photo courtesy of dreamcatcher portraits



photo courtesy of dreamcatcher portraits


photo courtesy of dreamcatcher portraits

photo courtesy of dreamcatcher portraits


photo courtesy of dreamcatcher portraits


photo courtesy of dreamcatcher portraits

I'm a Sucker For This One

i love this kid

Kentucky Wedding Adventure

We made the trek to Louisville, Kentucky in the middle of June for Rob's little brother's wedding. It was the first time all of us in Rob's family had been on a trip together without our kids. We had a blast. I loved Kentucky! It was so beautiful and we had a fabulous time.

Ryan and Barb's wedding and reception were awesome. We explored downtown, ate out, laughed our heads off, snuck (sneaked?) into the hotel pool to swim after hours, saw fireflies and amazing horse farms, had an adventurous two hour taxi trip to catch an almost-missed flight, and met some wonderful people. I would go back again in a heartbeat.


The happy couple


All of us after the wedding

Rob and his Dad and brother after the reception

All the siblings

Rob and I

The yummiest pork barbecue sandwiches and cornbread muffins ever. So much so that we ate there twice while in Kentucky.

A mirror outside the science and discovery museum downtown

Me at the Louisville Slugger factory