No Pictures:(

so... I would really, really, REALLY love to post some pictures but here's the thing... I downloaded a Lightroom 30 day free trial and I loved it so much that now I'm all snobby about it. My trial period is up  and I don't want to edit any of my pictures with out it. I'm working up the courage to just buy it already. I'm going to do it. But not right now. Instead I will give a brief update on life in the Floyd Family.

My sister, Emma, arrived a week ago. She is going to live with us for the school year and see what a big school with lots of Mormon friends is like. She also gets to experience an actual Young Women's program. In Lone Pine (home branch) she is the only young woman in Young Women's, and for that matter, the only youth in the branch period. It will be so fun for her to experience life in "The Bubble" and I am so very excited about all the fun she gets to have. We toured the huge and beautiful brand new high school last week and all I kept saying was, "I want to do high school again!!" I graduated in a class of 3. 1, 2, 3. That's it. and no, I was not Valedictorian. People always ask me that and I hang my head in shame.

ANYWAYS! The girls started school on Wednesday; Lily, Kaylee, and Emma. I think it's safe to say they all loved it. I think that Emma was a little shell-shocked but she will fit right in and I just know she'll love school. She made two new friends in her first 3 days and each day she is more and more excited about life at a big school. I knew Lily would be totally and completely fine but I was a little concerned about Kaylee. I'm still concerned about Kaylee, but so far she's doing fanTAStic. When I am walking her to her classroom she starts to get a little clingy, but as soon as she sees the other kids she is good to go. She walks away from me and doesn't really look back. So far, so good. She is one unpredictable child, that girl. I hope she keeps it up and just loves school every day forever and ever. I asked her what her favorite part of school was after her first day and she said "LEARNING!" (yes! That's my girl!!) Lily's favorite part of school was going to lunch. ahem.

New subject. Michael's diploma came in the mail! YES! So did his official transcript, and he's going to be upset with me for telling you this, but between you and me, since he began school at BYU Idaho his lowest grade was a B+ in his EMT class his very first semester. He said that was his "slacker semester". As I looked at that transcript and read over semester after semester of straight A's I found myself increasingly proud of that boy! I reminisced as I read the dates of each semester and remembered moves to new houses, births of babies, trips to visit family, and I was reminded of his diligence and all of his hard, HARD work. I am so proud of him and so grateful for this cute husband of mine. He one hard worker. And I love and adore him for it. Tonight he is away from me. He's in Montana because at 8:00am tomorrow he will take his NCLEX. He is so incredibly nervous, but I know he'll do just fine. I'm confident that he will pass with flying colors.

That's pretty much all I can think of for tonight. It's late and I'm tired. It seems that no matter what the circumstances are or how tired I am, I simply can NOT get to bed before 11pm. If I stop writing now, I will be in bed at a quarter 'til. Oh, and I have pictures of everything I just wrote about; I'll post them... either after I purchase Lightroom or after I humble myself.

five things about us today

We are ice cream people

The library is one of our favorite places on Earth

Hot lunches are deceiving.  I was like, 'Gravy on my ice cream??! No thank-you!'  Also, Emma was perturbed when the lunch lady slopped potatoes and gravy on her cookie (which was, in fact, chicken. Or so we think)  

We think Bill Nye is super great

We LOVE our Auntie Emma (and we're SO excited that she'll be staying for a while!)

just a long video of a cute baby

I was trying to get a video of the squeal she does when she wants more food. It's very unbecoming but it kind of makes me laugh. She only kind of does it in this video; Lily was feeding her too quickly. Instead you get to see lots of smiles and happy giggles:):)

fashonista

This little girl kills me! She loves to dress up and every time she changes her outfit it's, "Do I look beautiful, Mommy?" "Look Mommy. Amn't I lovely?"

(amn't is a regular word in my girls' vocab. I'm pretty sure I used that one too when I was 5)

Also, she always tells me exactly how she wants her hair. I'm just the hairdresser. These girls have their own sense of fashion and outside of Church they pretty much wear whatever they want. Sometimes they let me help and sometimes they're uninterested in my opinion. Sometimes they look super cute and sometimes they look... well, like they don't have a mother. Their hair (almost) always looks nice, if that counts for anything.

i want to ride my bicycle

So, Michael took the training wheels off Lily's bike a few weeks ago. Seeing her bike lying in the grass with no training wheels to prop it up brought back a wave of memories of pride and joy and glee. As I watched Lily ride up and down and up and down the sidewalk, I suddenly and vividly remembered what it felt like to finally have the training wheels off my bike. I remembered what it felt like to be so proud of myself and be so satisfied with my performance. I remember wanting everyone to see what I could do now that I'm a big girl. I laughed as Lily exclaimed, "I can't believe I'm doing this! I just so proud of myself!" Her joy radiated through me and I was six again. So proud and so ecstatic. Only I'm not six. Somehow in some strange way it's my baby who's suddenly big enough to ride a "two-wheeler". My memories of being a little girl were so real and vivid that day. I don't know where the time has gone. I'm telling you that life is an amazing miracle. I am so blessed and lucky and fortunate to be a momma to this little girl and her sisters. And guess what. There is a God in Heaven who is watching us and taking great joy in our small joys, just the way we do with our children. How blessed we all are to have such a loving Heavenly Father. All we have to do is look around to see how much he loves us.

the fourth of july

We had SUCH a great 4th of July. It's kind of hard to remember now since it was OVER a month ago! 

We had a fun cookout in our front yard with our friends, the Fentons and the Butlers (formerly known as Matt and Mandy:) Zach and his cute girlfriend, Rachel came too. Our girls just adore her.

We sat and visited for hours, it was splendid. We love our friends. 

Later in the evening we went to the Rexburg Rodeo. Matt, Mandy, and Taylor came with us and then we all watched the fireworks together in our special firework spot. After the show was over we came home and set off all of the fireworks that came in Michael's ginormous firework box. I couldn't believe my eyes when he came home with it. I was so excited to light fireworks because I reeeeeally wanted to try a long exposure photo with Matt and Mandy. I came down with mastitis that night and felt so terribly sick but I stuck it out 'til the end of our firework session and it was totally worth it because the picture turned out just the way I had imagined it (last photo). 

Anyway, the 4th has always been my favorite holiday. It's always full of sunshine, good food, and great company. Plus, I love this awesome little country that we live in. May God always watch over and bless America! 

 Riley in her "America Baybing Suit"

 Cutest baby

 out of focus but STILL the cutest thing I've ever seen!

a look into the future? (jk. or hk -half kidding-, as Shane would say)

I made matching headbands for me and Lily. 

 Rachel, Mallory, me

Taylor in his homemade water proof cast cover.

love.

the prettiest fingers i ever did see

We dumped some Martha Stewart craft glitter into our homemade finger-paint and it was preeeeeeeety.

I hated the finger-paint recipe we used so I'm not going to post it.  

If anyone has any suggestions for an awesome recipe PLEASE TELL ME. I've been searching for 4 years! We try a new recipe every time and there aren't any that I love. Same goes for play-dough. 

yummers

The refrigerator door got left open last week and Mallory discovered the deliciousness of whipped cream. Yum!

Grandma Came to Visit

Jan came to visit us for a couple of weeks so she could be here for Michael's graduation. It was really fun having grandma around. The girls adore their Grandma Jan. We love having her here and we miss her when she's away from us!

 Daredevil Kaylee showing off her jumping skills.

 Michael and Grandma with the girls. (please notice of how well-behaved Mallory is. She's such a  good girl when she's sleeping)

Cutest almost-five-year-old ever!

GRADUATION!

One step down... a few more to go.

Michael graduated with his Associates of Nursing on July 21. Yayyyy! We are so excited that he is finished with the nursing program. I am so grateful that he was accepted and that he was blessed with the opportunity to attend school at BYU Idaho. Michael has 6 more online classes to take before he gets his bachelor's and then we will be finished with this leg of our journey. After that he will work as an RN for a few years and then it will be on to CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) school.

If you read this Michael, I LOVE YOU! and I'm so very proud of you. Thanks for making my dream of being a mom and wife and having a cute and happy little family come true♥

 BYU-I Center

 Mallory and me

 Michael on the big screen (tiny in the corner)!

 With his empty diploma case

(diplomas are in the mail:):)

 woot!

 Michael's mom was able to come be with us the week he graduated:)

Our cute and happy family.

The Weekend

I have been the worst ever at blogging lately. I have lots of great stuff to blog about (well, I think it's great) so I'll be going backwards for the next few posts. We will start with our most recent escapade.

We left for Utah after church on Sunday to visit Michael's sister, Erica, and her husband. They were visiting his family in Utah and we were NOT about to miss out on an opportunity to see them! We stayed with my aunt and uncle, Amy and Clark, and we got to hang out with some of my very cutest and most favorite cousins, Raquel and Nicole. We met Rhett and Erica at Cabella's (Michael's favorite sporting goods store!) and then we all went to temple square. We didn't spend as much time there as I would have liked to but that's okay. We enjoyed the company we were with:):)

 Here are the cousins at Temple Square. Somewhere I have a picture just like this of me and my cousins:) so special.

 Erica, Rhett, Michael, and Kaylee

 The Tabernacle.

 One of my most favorite rooms ever in the world.

(everyone made fun of me for looking like Katniss in my green tunic. I should have carried a bow and arrow with me!)

 On the way home we stopped to visit my grandma's grave.

 My Uncle Matthew is buried here too. How I adore him. Here we are between his headstone and my grandma's.

 My grandma loved to sing and to be sung to so we sang I Love to See the Temple, I am a Child of God, and the Barney Song (I love you, you love me) to her and Matthew.

 Michael took on the role of "photographer". So here we are with our singy faces (and MESSY hair!). He was a little self-consious of his images but I think he did a fine job!

and here is a picture we took of him today for a nursing application. I just think he is so adorable.