Sunday was a wonderful day as we woke early to get ready for church and Adam was still home. It's been a year since he has had to start getting up early to go to church meetings and it was so nice to have him home helping get everyone ready for church since his meetings were cancelled for Father's Day. Church starts too early for us to be able to do our traditional "Breakfast In Bed" but the kids still enjoyed a quick breakfast with Dad in the kitchen before getting ready for church. Everyone was on their best behavior getting ready and made my excuse for being late to church "The kids were dawdling" or "The kids were fighting", etc unusable in the future. They were all perfect and we even had time for a few Father's Day pics before we had to leave. I drove to church by myself as all the kids wanted to be with Adam and since he had to stay after we had to take two cars. Secretly I kind of liked driving to church alone. I listened to the "Mo Tab" and enjoyed every minute!

After church we all came home, had lunch and watched the US OPEN with Adam. We then had a yummy dinner: Turkey Burgers, chips and fruit salad (Adam's requested Father's Day Dinner) and then sat out in the back yard chatting and waiting for cousin Natalie to arrive for her three day visit! The missionaries stopped by as well and we ate Grandma Ellison Brownies with ice cream. YUM!!!

It was a wonderful day and I hope Adam felt loved. He is such an amazing father and husband. The kids absolutely ADORE him and he them! I don't think there is another father in all the world who absolutely LOVES to be with his children more than Adam does. I've never heard him say "I need a break". From sun up to sun down, if he could, he would play with the kids all day, every day. He is the epitomy of "Fun"! Everytime I watch him with the kids, or hear their giggles when he's playing with them, I smile and fall deeper in love with him!

Not only is he a fun dad, he's an interested dad. He wants to hear about their day, their friends, their sports, their school, even their video game adventures. He listens, asks questions and laughs as he listens to them. They know he's interested in THEM and that makes them want to be with him even more! I'm so grateful for to be married to a man who loves me and our children so much. He's such an example of faith, hard work and love! The best thing is that he's never afraid to tell us or show us how much we mean to him!

Happy Father's Day Adam!!! I LOVE YOU!!1

MY DAD

I can't let a Father's Day post go by without mentioning my own Father! So much of who I am today is from the lessons I learned from my dad. As an adult, I have so many moments when I think back to something my dad taught me, whether its about sports, parenting, religion, or something else, he has been an example to me in every way. When I was born my parents thought I would be their only daughter. My dad was from a family of 6 children with only one girl and all his older siblings had all boys and one girl, so when I came along, after my older brother, he thought he met his "daughter quota" and all the rest of his kids would be boys. Even though I have two little sisters, and my dad has great relationships with both of them, my dad and I have always had a special bond. He's always made me feel so loved and special and though he comes across as a "tough guy, he's a softie on the inside. I remember when I was pregnant with Logan and feeling soooooo sick, one morning the doorbell rang and there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers on my doorstep from my dad. I bawled like a baby as I read the card. He was in Florida at a dental seminar at the time and I knew he was worried about me. Another time, when I was in college, I had said something to my roommate to hurt and offend her. I had no idea I'd done anything wrong and struggled for a few weeks to figure out what I had done that was so terrible. A few days after sharing my distress with my parents, I went to the mailbox to find a large manilla envelope. Inside was a VERY long letter from my dad. It was one of support, council, love and advice and one that I reflect on often, even today. My dad doesn't verbally express his worries and concerns very often, but shows us his love in such different and special ways that mean even more than if he'd just said it to us. I love that about him!

My dad's father passed away when I was only 8. We called him "Granddad" which is what my kids call my dad. I loved to sit and listen to my Granddad tell stories and sing funny songs. He was a very handsome and distinguished looking man and I have many fond memories of the wonderful man he was. Sometimes, when I look at my dad, my children's "Granddad", I see that same wonderful, handsome and distinguished looking man being reflected in the eyes of my children. They love to hear him tell stories, sing silly songs and have "adventures" with him. Hiking in bear country, golfing, skiing, you name it, my dad is always up for an adventure with his grandkids. What a blessing it is for my kids to have a granddad like my dad!

My dad has always been there for me and I'm so blessed and grateful to have such an amazing father in my life!

MY FATHER IN LAW

Last, but not least, I have to give a tribute to my wonderful Father In Law! Honestly, I don't think there has ever been a greater Father in Law in all the world than mine! Since before Adam and I were even dating, Greg and I had a special relationship. When my brother married Adam's sister, a year before Adam and I were married, and Ad was still on his mission, Greg and I would jokingly (but hopingly) chat about when Adam and I got married. My mother in law would catch us and scold us for talking about it but we'd just giggle and keep whispering about how great it would be if things worked out with Adam and I. Obviously things worked out and I have grown to adore him even more. So much of what I love about Adam, I know he learned from his Dad. His love for his Family, his Testimony of the Gospel, his desire to help anyone in need are amazing. One thing I also noticed about Greg is his love for his friends. I have always felt that my friendships are important and have been blessed with amazing friends in my life. Greg is the same way only a billion times better at being a friend than I am. If you are Greg's friend, you are his friend for life.

I think the thing I love most about my father in law is the unbelievably wonderful Grandfather he is to my kids. To them he is "Papa". I always tell him that I admire the relationships he has with each of his grandkids. He has a bond with each of them that is different from the others. He loves them all so much and works at knowing them and loving them for who they are. Whenever Papa is around, I hardly have to be a mom because he takes such good care of them. He makes their meals, he cleans up after them, he changes diapers, feeds bottles, snuggles, reads stories, tucks them into bed, plays outside, goes on walks, takes them to the park. He does it all, and they LOVE him to pieces.

As I read this post back, I hope it doesn't sound like I'm boasting as I describe these three amazing men in my life. I don't mean to boast, only to express my love and appreciation to these men who mean so much to me. I wish I had time to tell you about other men who are "Fathers" and have impacted my life in profound ways. My grandfathers, Adam's Grandfathers, my brother, my brother in laws, my uncles, Adam's Uncles, our cousins and more. I'm one lucky lady to be surrounded by valiant, faithful and loving men.

I love you all so much! Happy Father's Day!!!

Adam's Uncle told the following story in conference a few years ago. Its one that has always touched my heart. You've never met two people who love each other the way Grandpa and Grandma Christofferson do. Theirs is a tender love story and this story illustrates it perfectly!

This week felt like Summer finally started. Not because of the weather but because of the kids activities. As far as the weather goes, its been less than stellar. Windy, cloudy, rainy and even a few tornados reported in the area (eek, scary). However, this week was the start of a long schedule of sports camps for the APC clan. One after the other...we'll be busy!

In my planning for the summer, I thought to make it go faster I'd sign the kids up for a bunch of camps. I thought I was being so wise but now looking back am realizing I should have signed them up for camps in July instead of June. I won't be able to travel in July and am feeling a bit of cabin fever. I need to go somewhere!!! BUT because of all the camps, we're stuck here for the month. Good thing we have stuff to do, right?

GOLF CAMP

This week Spencer and Annie had 3 mornings of Golf Camp at the course we belong to. When I picked them up after the first day they couldn't stop talking about how much fun they had. Learning from the Pros and meeting other kids their age who golf were the highlights, not to mention the Hats and balls they got "for free" (ummmm, who's paying for this camp?).

On the last day I told them that when I came to pick them up I'd drive them around so they could play 9 holes. As a treat, when I got there I took them into the clubhouse for a little lunch before heading out. We had such a fun time talking about what they'd learned and about how much fun golf is and how I wish I could golf right now but am a little too large and cumbursome to twist my body around that much. After lunch we headed out onto the course. After 1 1/2 holes we could hear and see thunder and lightening coming over the mountains. Uh Oh! Not another storm coming? We decided to skip a few holes to try to get in front of the storm but our efforts were in vain. It started to get cold and windy and soon the rain started. So, despite our efforts, we had to head back to the clubhouse. By the time we got in our car and started driving home we were in a full fledged down pour. So much for 9 holes today!



BUZZ CUT

After dropping Spencer and Annie off at Golf Camp the first day I took the little boys to the grocery store with me. While there I decided they both needed haircuts. After checking out we unloaded groceries in the car and headed to "Super Cuts". Upon our arrival Logan informed me that "Daddy told me I could get a buzz cut the next time". Oh did he? Logan insisted and after calling Adam to find out if that were true (it wasn't :-), I decided to let him get one anyway. He was SOOOOOO excited and surprisingly, it turned out looking pretty darn cute (but I'm the mom so you be the judge! :-) After consenting to the "Buzz" Garett was quite distraut and tried his hardest to talk Logan out of it. "Logan you'll look bald!" "Logan it's gonna look weird" "Logan, DON'T do it". Of course Logan didn't listen but Garett agreed that it looked good even though he didn't think it was going to.




CLEANING HOUSE

Yesterday I put my kids to work with the ever dreaded "jobs". They have jobs every day but with summer here and a house I can't clean by myself anymore unless I want it to take me 5 days, the kids have become my "Cleaning Crew". We start the day off making LISTS for everyone, reviewing HOW to do each job on the list and then each heading off in our separate directions! Yesterday was a DOOZIE and the kids were not happy with the length of their lists, but we got it all done! They have become such HUGE helpers to me. Afterward we went and got Ice Cream as a reward.

5 WEEKS TO GO!

Monday will be my "5 weeks to go" mark. I'm getting REALLY excited to meet this little thing, figure out what we're going to name her and not be pregnant any more, or ever again :-). Am I allowed to be excited about the last part? I hope so because I sure am! Pretty much everything is ready for baby girl: Nursery, clothes, carseat, kids, Adam and of course, ME!! As much as I would LOVE for her to come a week or so earlier than we're scheduled to be enduced, and as ready as I am for her as far as nursery, clothes, etc. when I stop and think about her coming any earlier, I have a panic attack! Everything is scheduled to happen on time. The arrivals of my mom, my mother in law, and my sister Julie, Adam's work schedule, Spencer and Annie's summer plans, sports camps, swim lessons, everything. Soooo, as much as I want her here, I still want her to wait til everything is done and all the ducks are in a row! But I do want the ducks to march a little faster so the time will pass more quickly. Ahhhhhh, the end of an era for me. The baby growing will soon be over! :-) (that is a bigger smile than it shows up to be. Imagine it as GINORMOUS!!!!)

LUCY

After 3 1/2 months I still sometimes can't believe we have a dog. Really? Seriously? I have a dog! Weird. Things are going well with her. She's potty trained, she's been spay, she graduated from Puppy Kindergarden, she has most of her adult teeth and she sleeps through the night. She still gets excited and flys around the house when someone new shows up and still tries to nip at little kids. She got Annie good the other day, but the trainer said she should grow out of that by the time she's about 7 months old if we're consistent about disciplining her when she does it. I am VERY consistent about it and she knows after she's nipped at someone, that when she sees me coming, she's in trouble. She is still as snuggly as can be and curls up on our laps every night to watch tv or read a book with one of us. She also knows commands like "come", "sit", "lie down", "wait", "go in your kennel", "leave it", "heel" and tricks like "touchdown", "turn", and "shake". The kids LOVE doing tricks with her and rewarding her with a cheesie treat. She loves it too. We just bought a baby doll that cries and giggles and burps the other day to start getting her used to a baby around. Hopefully she'll adjust to this baby alright otherwise, I told my kids, our puppy days will be over.

Here is a picture of her from the day we brought her home and one of her now.




I can't believe how much she has grown! Her coloring has changed and her puppy face isn't there anymore. She is still a sweetie though and we all love her to death!

Well, that's all for now. I know its kind of boring but if I don't keep up on stuff I'll get too far behind to want to catch up! Sorry for the lack of pics. I keep forgetting to take my camera with me. Darn! I'll try to do better.

May was a busy month for getting stuff done. Between field trips, year end school parties, puppy graduation for Lucy (a big deal, we have learned), Laker playoff basketball games, G's Birthday and the BYU Father/Son Basketball Camp, I decided to get Spencer's new bedroom all set up and his old bedroom turned into the nursery. I figure with school ending and kids home all day, I probably wouldn't have much time to get it done after May, not to mention the fact that I'd be too large and cumbursome (sp?) to be able to climb a ladder to paint! So.... without further adieu.....the bedrooms....

Both rooms still need the final decorations put up and the nursery is still awaiting the, valence, crib bumper and quilt which are all on back order til the end of June, but all in all, the painting done!

SPENCER'S ROOM

View from the door

Look at the closet with LITTLE GIRL clothes in it :-)

It has been sooooo much fun figuring out what to do in each room and even more fun to paint and see my ideas come to fruition! Spencer's room was inspired by some model homes mom and I toured in April and the baby's room was inspired by yours truly. I couldn't think of anything I wanted to do and I was getting stressed out about it. Then one morning, I woke up with the idea to outline the entire room and the windows. So that's what I did! All I can say is this kid better be a GIRL!!!