First day(s) of school.

Niamh and Kian started school on August 24th. I have to say I now totally understand why my Mam always used to tell me how beautiful I looked on the first day of school. My kids looked so beautiful in their new clothes and backpacks. I love my kids but I have to say I was VERY happy and VERY ready for school to start. I actually have 2.5 hours every day where the 3 big kids are in school and I only have Liam. It has been so nice to spend that one on one time with him. We are having so much fun.

Niamh is in 2nd grade and has Mrs Croft. She was so excited for school to start and I know she will have a great year. She loves school and is so academic.





Kian started Kindergarten this year and his teacher is Miss Walker. I can't believe how big he is getting. He was a little nervous but once we got to school he was fine. He has already made tons of friends.





Ronan started school on August 26th. He is going to the same place as last year but he has a new teacher this year. The school district received funding to open up an Autism classroom at the preschool level and we are blessed to be able to have Ro attend 5 days a week. His teacher is Wendy Wilson, she is awesome and Ronan loves her! He did NOT want his picture taken on his first day though so this is the best I could get.

Last trip of the summer.

We decided to have one last trip to Utah before the kids started school. We headed down Friday 14th and stayed till Sunday 16th. We had so much fun spending time together as a family and really enjoyed visiting with our awesome cousins. We took the kids to the Aquarium in Sandy on the Saturday morning. They loved it! It was worth every penny. We were there for about 2 hours and the kids loved seeing all the different fish.





The jellyfish and the stingray were their favourites.






After the aquarium we headed out to visit Jeff & Carrie and their cute kiddos. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins. We went to dinner at The Mayan and the kids were amazed by the cliff jumpers. This was the cool statue outside the restaurant that they just HAD to climb on and have their pictures taken on. The waterfall and cliffs are inside of the restaurant and every 30 minutes the divers come out and do tricks and jump into the pool. Ronan loved it and would have jumped right in with them if we would have let him.







On the Sunday we decided to drive around and visit some of the Temples in the area. We went to some of the new ones that we hadn't visited yet and got some pictures. We went to the Mount Timpanogus, Oquirrh Mountain, Draper, Jordan River and Salt Lake Temples.





Then we went on a tour of the conference Center. This picture was taken in front of the fountain on the roof.

Niamh's 1st black eye.

Niamh and Kian were playing football out in the backyard with Scott when Kian decided to "tackle" his sister. Poor girl, she was sooooo sad and had a huge bruised and swollen eye for about 2 weeks. These pics were taken about 20 minutes after it happened, it was a LOT worse than this the next day.

I love to see the Temple.

On Sunday afternoon, Scott and I decided to take the kids for a walk around the river. It was a beautiful summer day and we had so much fun. We managed to get some amazing pictures of the Temple too. It made me realise how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful area and how much I take it for granted. I really need to be better at appreciating the beauty around me and sharing it with my children.



Our attempt at a family pic didn't turn out too well, but at least we were all looking in the same direction.





I love this picture of Niamh, I can't believe how grown up she is getting.

8 years!!!

July 28th was our 8th wedding anniversary. WOW, 8 years already. It has been a blast and it just keeps getting better.
Scott, I love you so much. Thankyou for being an amazing husband and father. If I could choose again, I would still choose you every time. The past 8 years have been amazing, I look forward to sharing eternity with you. Love ya babe xxx

Niamh's 7th Birthday

Niamh turned 7 on July 16th. She was sooooo excited for her birthday. I swear she has been almost 7 since last August.....lol. She asked for 2 things this year, a Nintendo DS and a roller skating party. Unfortunately, the skating rink was closed on Thursday (the day of her birthday) so she had to have her party on the Friday instead. It actually ended up working out totally to her advantage though, because it meant she got 2 whole days of birthday celebrations.

She chose to go to Red Robin for lunch and LOVED it when they sang to her and gave her an ice-cream sundae.



We saved her DS for her party the next day and she was so excited when she opened it.



Of course her cake was Hannah Montana! She got the CD too and we have been listening to Hannah Montana non-stop for the past 3 weeks.



Here are all the cute girls who came to her party. They had so much fun and were all such good sports. Even though they all fell a few times, they got right back up and kept trying. By the end of the party they were all pretty good at it.



Niamh is such a joy to have in our family. She is such a good helper with her little brothers. It amazes me as I watch her grow, just how smart she is. She has a heart of gold and loves to help. Niamh, I am so blessed to be your Mam. You make me want to be a better person. You love me unconditionally and I am so grateful for that. We love you sweetheart xx

4th of July.

I know, I'm really late posting this, but better late than never, right??
We had a really fun 4th of July this year. The kids LOVED the fireworks and the parade.



Ronan loved the candy even more than the fireworks!



Niamh took this pic of Scott and I, it turned out pretty good.

Trip to Utah

Last week we went down to Utah for a few days. Scott had a food show to go to, so the kids and I tagged along. We had a great time.
The kids loved swimming, Ronan would have stayed in there all day if we would have let him. He gave us a scare when he took his floaties off and jumped in the pool, luckily he has done it before and Scott was right there beside him. He has no fear at all.






The hotel that they put us up in was fabulous. It was the nicest hotel that we have ever stayed in. The kids kept asking if we could live there. Kian even said "I have an idea Mom. We should give our house to someone who doesn't have one and then we should live here forever" LOL.
This was the view looking from the kitchen into the front room. Yes it had a flat screen TV and a DVD player.


A close up of the kitchen. It had a dishwasher, fridge/freezer with an icemaker, microwave and stove. All of the cupboards were stocked with pans, plates, glasses etc. It was awesome.


This was the bedroom, with a very comfy king size bed and a flatscreen TV on the wall. The second pic is looking into the bathroom. Ro was saying "cheese" and really wanted to be in the pic.



Close up of the bathroom. It had a huge shower and closet.


To finish, a super cute pic of Liam that I couldn't resist throwing in.

Ronan's 4th Birthday.

Ronan's birthday was May 28th. I know, it has taken me forever to blog this. It has been crazy since the kids got out of school for summer.
We decided to just have a fun family day for Ro's birthday. He really can't handle much more than that. We started out opening presents. He was more excited about his Ironman birthday card then he was about anything else.



We then took him to the Zoo. He loved the animals and it was sooo cute to hear him make the animal sounds. He had a blast.





After that it was over to Scottys for shakes. Then we picked Niamh up from school and went out for dinner. Once that was done we came home and had a few of our close friends over for cake and ice-cream. Ro got a slip n'slide for his birthday so we set it up and the kids had so much fun.

When it was time to sing Happy Birthday, Ronan was so excited that we didn't even make it halfway through the song before he blew the candles out and started clapping....it was so cute!



Ronan has come so far this past year and I am so proud of him. Simple every day tasks can be such a struggle for him but he is an amazing little boy with a very, very strong spirit. He truly is an angel. There are many days when he drives me crazy but then there are the sweet moments that I wouldn't trade for anything. If anyone can overcome the challenges that he faces it is Ronan. I can't wait to see where this next year will take him.
Ro, I am so proud of you and so blessed to be your Mammy. You are such a special boy and I am so grateful that you are part of our family. I can't wait to see where the road ahead of you will lead. We love you buddy!! xxxx

Argh Matey!!

Kian had his last day of preschool on the same day as Niamh's dance recital. His preschool teachers are awesome. I would highly recommend them to anyone! For the kids last day Jana threw a pirate party at her home. The kids had a blast. Kian was soooo excited and he was the cutest pirate I have ever seen.