Easter with Family

Last year on Easter it was super hard for me to not be with family. Michelle was here but we each had our separate plans. I don't know why I struggled. We haven't been home for Easter in 6 years now. Perhaps it was being so close but not quite close enough. Anyway, this year was so much better. We went to the Conley's(my cousin Melanie) house and had dinner and an egg hunt. The kids get along so well and it was nice for Hunter to have Andrew to play with rather than all the girls. The two boys really hit it off and have so much in common, Melanie and I were loving it. The kids had a great time and I really felt blessed to have family live so close to spend the Holiday with. They also helped make this week of Spring Break bearable and fun for the kids. Who would have thought that we would all end up in the same city with families so similar after only seeing each other once a year while growing up. It is wonderful to have them here and be able to have a good relationship with them. I really enjoy their friendship and am so grateful for it.

Easter Outfits

When I was growing up my mom made Easter dresses for Katie and I every year. As we got older we would always go and get a new church outfit for Easter. So this is a tradition that Brent humors me in carrying on. The kids helped pick their dresses and outfits out this year and had so much fun doing so and the anticipation to wear them on Easter Sunday was almost more than Sienna could bear.
This is the kids playing with their new sunglasses.
I was so frustrated at not being able to get
the picture I wanted. But I liked this candid one.
I love to see them interacting together and their
different personalities. I love to see the girls
looking to their older brother and how silly he
was being. They both look up to him so much
and try to be like him.

This is one of the many we tried to get with Buoy.
He has grown so much since last year. We just
don't have a calm enough dog for him to sit
there and be still and Ayla just can't leave him
alone. She has to be touching or thinking
of him at all times so to have him sit still by
her and have her sit up and smile is a big
impossibility.

Hunter looked so Handsome and
I can not believe he will be baptized
this year. He started Karate this week
and loves it. I believe the months he
has begged me to take have just made
it that much more special for him. Now
he is trying to convince me to let him
take Art lessons so we are looking
into it.

Sienna and Hunter wanted me
to take this picture through my
sunglasses like one I took in Hawaii
of a sunset. She looks sad to me but
I also love the seriousness in her eyes.
It makes me think of how sensitive
she is. She is so afraid to make
me or Brent upset and tries so hard
to please us.

Sienna is loving Gymnastics and
it has been so good for her to have
something for herself. She enjoys the
time we get with Melanie and Michelle's
kids at McDonald's or the park
afterwards.

Ayla is growing more and more
independent every day. Most two
year olds are independent but
she is above and beyond any
that I have seen. She insists on
putting on her own socks and will take
them off and do it herself if I do it.
She has to walk everywhere herself,
put her pants on herself,
brush her teeth herself,
eat without a bib, sit in a regular chair,
choose her own spoon, drink out of
big girl cup, get into the car herself, and
her newest think is to go potty.

Yep that is right she kept telling me
"Uh, Oh. Pee." And then she would
hold her diaper and run to the bathroom.
I really did not want to potty train her yet.
She just turned two! But I decided that
it would be better to do it when she wanted to
rather than when I want to. I am glad I
did. She has done such a great job over the last
three days. She even stayed dry when we went out
yesterday and told me she needed to use the potty
and did. She stayed dry all night last night and then
woke up and told me she needed to go and did.
She carries her little potty seat and stool from
bathroom to bathroom and climbs up herself.
She does her thing, washes her hands and then says,
"Sticker" and gives me five.
There are times when I curse her independence,
but this week it has been such a blessing.
Hopefully it keeps up and I will only have
one in diapers afterall.

Easter Fun

Pictures with the Easter Bunny

Crafts

Ayla had to be right there by the nice lady painting
faces. She was so fascinated by it and held so still
when it was finally her turn.

Saturday before Easter we went to the YMCA and saw the Easter Bunny and made crafts, had breakfast and the kids got their faces painted. It was fun to do this stuff on Saturday so that we could focus more on Christ on Easter Day. I think it can be so confusing for kids with all the hype about the Easter bunny and eggs and all that. While we were dying eggs later that day Hunter told me that someone at school told him that the Easter bunny is Jesus' pet. This made me very sad to see that the fantasy is being intermixed with what is true and real. I need to sit down with the kids and tell them that the Easter bunny is not real but something fun and that really the stuff left in their baskets is from Brent and I because we love them. I need to let them know that Christ is the most important thing, and that that is why we celebrate Easter. We talked about the atonement on several occasions leading up to Easter but I still think that it is hard for little ones to understand this and focus on this rather than the candy.

Syrup

Saturday morning Hunter and Sienna made themselves some waffles and left the syrup bottle on the table. When Ayla woke up she went right downstairs and found the syrup bottle. Then she came upstairs to show us that she couldn't get the hair off of her fingers. She was so frustrated.

We have to assume that since she didn't have a waffle that she just chugged the syrup straight from the bottle. The new bottle was half gone when I went downstairs to tackle the mess.

Let's just say she was pretty hyper that morning. We couldn't stop laughing at her.

Photo Shoot

Niki, Brent's cousin, came to town with her fiance to get a crown done. It has been fun to meet Quinn and to spend time with them for the last few days since most likely we won't be able to make it to their May wedding.

They asked me take some pictures for engagement announcements. I was very flattered that Niki would even think of me since I have absolutely no experience with this. Photography is definitely just a hobby for me that I wish and hope to get better and better at. We went to The
Garden of the Gods and played around. I still need to take my camera in since it underexposes everything no matter what setting I put it on. Some of the pictures turned out in spite of that, the morning sun and shadows, and the very dead backgrounds. I hope they are able to use some of the pictures but if not, it was fun for me to play around with some subjects that actually smile when you tell them to and hold still. It was such a beautiful day and it was fun to walk around the park and be outside.

Here are some of my favorites.

I love this one except for the wheat RIGHT in front of Niki's face. Why did I not notice that? Does anyone know if Photoshop would take that out?

This is one I doubt they would use and it is a bit washed out but I love the way they are looking at each other. They look happy.










Which one would you choose?

Whistling Songs

This is what Sienna said to me in the car on the way to gymnastics, "I miss Daddy and his whistling songs. Don't you, Mommy?" It made me smile, not only because it was so cute that she would be thinking of Daddy and his whistling but that she even notices that Daddy is Always whistling. I was also overcome with gratitude to have such a happy, easy going husband. He whistles so much that I don't even notice it most of the time. It is kind of like the background music of our lives. I love these moments. Moments that make me realized how blessed I am and how little things about people's personalities make them absolutely wonderful.

Food Storage

So Brent's mom gave a food storage
pep talk at Christmas time and so did
my mom.
Then when Gaylene was here again
to watch the kids. We were nudged again.
It has been something that we want to do,
have been meaning to do, and have even attempted to do,
but for some reason or another we haven't gotten very far.
So on the way to the airport to drop Gaylene off,
we stopped at The Container Store(a very dangerous store
for the organizationally inclined).
I bought 8 containers for sugar, flour, oats, and rice.
I also bought 4 can racks( I found some I like better at
Costco but they are pricier).

Brent and I went to buy shelves for food storage
(our shelves are now full of Christmas stuff and Hunting/camping gear)
back in January but couldn't find ones like the ones we have.
We will have to keep looking. In the meantime all of our
food is just downstairs in the mini bar.

We went to Costco last Monday for FHE and spent $200 on
food storage. I was thinking we have so much but then when
we got it home and started putting it away, I realized we have a
long way to go. It feels so great to get started though.
Thanks for the motivation to get going on it, Gaylene!

Also, thanks to Amy for letting me borrow your book.
Practical Preparedness by Tina Monson has been such
a big help. It has monthly or weekly plans for
getting your years supply of f.s. in one year for only $5
dollars a week for 2 people. I figure we need to budget $60
a month for our family and maybe a bit more.
It also has emergency preparedness guides, recipes, inventory lists,
72 hour kit guides and much more. It has taken all of the stress
out of knowing where to start with such a big project.
I really recommend it.

This is the can rack from The Container Store.
I put one in my pantry but I think I will get
the Costco ones for the Storage room because
you can put the new cans you buy on the top and it
feeds the oldest can out the bottom so it is easy to
rotate. With this one, I would have to take all
the cans out to put the new ones in the back and then
put them all back in again. For the pantry it is fine
and less bulky and combersome than the Costco one.

Birthday Fun

On Saturday it was 70 degrees. Though all of us girls were not feeling well, we went to the park to celebrate Ayla's birthday. The kids really enjoyed being outside. We all ate popsicles and enjoyed the warmth.

Ayla loves to swing and it was good to see her smile,
since she has been a little tyrant due to not feeling well.

Hunter didn't want his picture taken so I had to sneak up on
him and he thought it was a fun game.

He was excited to show me the crow feather he found,
and wanted me to take a picture of it.

Ayla started to melt after a while so we headed home.
Hunter let her wear his jacket when she said she was cold.
What a nice big brother.
She was also not very happy about me taking her
picture and would do this every time I tried.
She just looked so cute in Hunty's jacket.

I wasn't up to making a cake so Brent bought
a cheescake from Sam's. Ayla didn't care. She blew
her candles out before I could get a picture. She was
very excited about it.

She opened her one present which was a swimsuit
and then it was off to bed. Part of her present was
also her new big bed in Sienna's room. She has been
sleeping in there for about a week. I was
a little nervous that the girls would keep
each other awake but they do so well. Ayla lays
right down and says,"tiss, uggg." and then
tries to say "I love you" in ASL. She can
open Sienna's door for some strage reason and so she
has gotten out a few times and come to find us.
We tell her to go get back in bed, to which she says, "kay".
She then goes back to bed
dragging her baba the whole way.

Sienna loves sharing her room and having her
new beds. It is fun to think that they will grow
up sharing a room like Katie and I did.
And it makes it seem more real to have the nursery
somewhat empty, it makes the reality that I will
need it for someone else seem to sink in more.

Happy Birthday Ayla Bug!

It's hard to believe you were this little once...

and now your are still pretty little
but packed with SO much personality!

We love you, buggy!

Valley of the Red Throat

When Brent and I were considering moving to Colorado Springs I started investigating everything about the area. I wanted a place with easy access to the temple and airport, good schools, hiking, walking, biking trails, cultural events, a ton of sunny days, within a days drive to Utah, good libraries(that may have not turned out to be as true as I would have liked) and an overall active place to live. Well CS seemed to fit very well. The thing I never thought about was how often people get sick. It never even occurred to me that there are some places that sickness just resides.

Last winter I blamed our families constant sickness on it being our first winter here and us just getting used to the altitude and climate. I had talked to several other people that said they were constantly sick their first winter here. Well this year I am not so sure it can be blamed on that.

Hunter has missed 5 days of school in the last month. Brent(who very rarely gets sick) has been sick twice as well in the last month. Ayla has had a constant runny nose and now the cold has spread to her face. Sienna has a fever today and she gets sick even less than Brent. I have had whatever this awful, miserable, terrible, no good illness is for the last 5 days. It is my second time in my life to lose my voice and both times have been this year. Sienna's preschool teacher, Miss Laura, said that on Tuesday they only had 2 kids in class and that strep is going around. It is crazy. I am not sure if that is what we have but Brent finally brought me some antibiotics from the office so hopefully that helps.

A lady in our ward said that when the Indians used to inhabit this area they called it the valley of the red throat(strep throat). So why on earth wasn't that in any of the information I pulled up when researching CS. Sterling's best places and find your spot should put that sort of info up too.

Kaua'i

Brent and I went to Kaua'i for a Dental Symposium
that was there. It was very last minute and we
are so glad that Corey told Brent about it.
He was able to write everything off
except for my airfare. He had flight tags earned from
the lab he uses so that covered that.
It was so nice to
get away and have some time to ourselves
before we have number 4.

Brent's mom flew out here and watched the kids
for the 9 days we were gone and we really owe her now.
They had fun with Nana. She took them to Mr. Biggs
several times and even took Sienna on her field trip to
the fire station. Thanks Nana.

Brent had classes from 8 till 12:30 every weekday
except for Wednesday. It was so nice because we stayed at the
Grand Hyatt where the symposium took place.
Brent would walk to his class and I would get up
when I wanted, go work out, and then go hang by the pools.
I even treated myself to a massage on Monday and the spa
there was so nice. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the showers, soaps,
shampoos, lotions, sunscreens, hairspray, and all that jazz
that they had there to use. I felt very pampered,
and at just the right time being 6 months pregnant.
It was so relaxing.

I am not in love with any of the pictures that we
have of me from this trip but can any pregnant women really say
that she is. It is what it is.

Poipu Beach
There were several Hawaiian Monk Seals
that would come right up onto the beach in
the midst of a crowd and sun. They were so fun
to watch. They are one of the most endagered species
in the world.

Sunset off of Corey and Noelle's hotel deck.

We hiked up a cliff a little ways by our hotel and met
a really funny gay couple that took this picture for us.
They gave us quite a laugh.

We went on a Helicopter ride and saw some
breathtaking views. It was so amazing. I was
very nervous that I would get sick but I was fine
and enjoyed every minute of it.

This local fisherman came up on shore from his little boat
and asked if we wanted to see some octopus.
We had really enjoyed talking to him and seeing
his cooler full of octopus that he and his wife eat.
"Delicasy", he said.
I also loved his black high top shoes
and his socks that he waded through the
water in. They were sopping wet when he
took them off.

We were at Anini Beach when we
met the fisherman and Brent and Corey
had just come in from catching some needle fish,
or "saxophone fish" is what the local called them,
with their fly rods.

This picture is of part of the grounds of the Hyatt.
The landscaping was amazing and it just kept going and going.
It was such a beautiful place to stay. Brent keeps saying
that everywhere we go after that will never compare
and I fear he is right.

Our last night there we stayed in Hanalei,
which is where Puff the Magic Dragon is from.
We had fun being on the north shore and seeing the
differences in the beaches and surroundings.
This beach was right by our hotel and I am
not sure of the name of it. The tide was so high
that they advised not swimming in it.
It was nice to watch the waves come crashing in.

Thanks Hubby for such a wonderful vacation.
It was great to get away with you!