An April of Snuggles and Fun

Brooklyn is Dave's little snuggle bug! She has been transitioning to one nap and it's just so hard for her to be awake that long. But two is just too much now (we will hear her up singing to herself until 10 at night if she gets two naps). Dave doesn't mind at all the extra love.

This girl is getting so big! She has such an opinion and is learning words like crazy. She went to Nursery yesterday without crying at all (this is a big deal for us) and stayed the whole time. She even said she had fun after.

I can't believe all the things she can do. She can swing on the big swings alone now and is so proud of herself for doing it! Her favorite word right now is "this". She will point to what she wants and you better give it to her.

A few Saturdays ago the ladies in Dave's family all got together for a girls Saturday. We went out to lunch at Zupas and worked on a craft. Before the event I cut and glued these boards together and white washed them. The night before I had Dave create a cut file so I could paint this easily the day of. It's great having a Graphic Designer for a husband. I love how it turned out and even though it's no longer Easter, it's still hanging up.

A few weekends ago we had some friends over for a crazy night of playing! Their parents had a temple date scheduled and their babysitter canceled last minute. So we made homemade pizza, built zoos, and played outside until bedtime. It was a fun night for the kids.

We also got to go to the Zoo with Grandma Linda and Papa Bill! We went just as it opened and were able to beat most of the crowd. The kids had a blast seeing all the animals, riding the train and carousel. When Brooklyn would see a little animal she would say "hello!" and the big animals got an "OH WOW!" I think everyone's favorite were the water animals. There were some active sea lions and a polar bear that kept swimming right into the wall where the kids were.

We saw a few peacocks wondering around the Zoo. The kids loved following them around.

As always, it was more fun to take pictures with/on the statues than with the real animals. I think Brooklyn thought the rabbit was real. She kept petting and playing with it.

It was a fun trip! The boys had a blast and asked if they can go again. I'm sure we will.

We've been cat sitting for the past week and a half. Every morning we go let the cats outside and each night we bring them in and feed them dinner. Brooklyn is in love with the cats! The cats are not in love with her. She gets so excited to see them, screeches, and says "hello" and "meow" to them. They grumble at her. When we leave she always cries and dramatically throws herself at the door. I fear we might need a little cat in our future.

We've been working hard outside this week! I probably filled 8 buckets full of weeds. The boys have gotten pretty good at helping and logan even discovered a grub and all kinds of bugs he is so proud of! The boys put the bugs in their bug boxes and Brooklyn lets them out and carries the box around like a purse. I guess I need to get her a real purse soon.

Apart from weeding we've been spring cleaning. Last week I went through all the books in our house, rearranged, got rid of a few, gave a few to friends and family and put them all back. I had purchased a huge bag of books at our branch library sale a few weeks ago and they needed to be able to fit on the shelves so this was very necessary. 

I've also gone through all our freezers this week and cataloged and organized everything frozen. Next up is the storage closet and shed. I'm hoping to get the closet done this week and maybe the shed this weekend. We'll see how it all goes.

Mini Vacation

Two weekends ago we went on a mini vacation! Dave and I felt like we were running ragged lately so I decided it was time for an overnighter. I decided we needed to check out Crystal Hot Springs, which is a little over an hour north of us. I decided with kids it just sounded easier to get a hotel overnight and make it a real trip. So we drove up to Brigham City, checked into our hotel and headed out for some adventures!

Dave's co-worker grew up in Brigham City, so he recommended Spiral Jetty. It's a man made swirl pattern created out of lava rocks on the "beach" of the Great Salt Lake. It was made in the 70's and it's impressive to see it still in great condition. It's free although rather off the beaten path.

The boys insisted you could only walk on the rock area and not in the sand, so it took quite a while to get to the center of the swirl. After we reached the center they had tons of fun throwing little rocks into the water. Brooklyn loved this too, but she couldn't understand why we didn't want her to stay out of the water.

We also hit up the ATK Thiokol Rocket Garden. It had all these real rockets on display and although it was raining we still enjoyed checking it out.

Each rocket had a plack that explained what piece of the rocket it was and what it was used for, etc. It was interesting and free.

On our way back into town we grabbed dinner followed by swimming in our hotel's pool (a requirement for family vacations) and to bed.

The next morning we were pleasantly surprised with a fabulous continental breakfast that included several Gluten Free options. Since the Hot Springs didn't open up until 10, we decided to stop by the Brigham City Temple. It was tiny! The grounds were tiny! But we really enjoyed our time checking out the flowers and fountain.

When we tired of the Temple grounds we headed over to Idle Isle Chocolate Shop. It's a little hole in the wall Chocolate shop my friend Tenille visits when she drives through town from Idaho to visit us. We were in HEAVEN! Everyone got one of whatever we wanted and we later decided we probably should have bought more. We enjoyed eating it for the remainder of the trip.

Next we hit up the Crystal Hot Springs. I didn't get any pictures because it was lightly raining and we were swimming. So imagine us in one of the 6 hot spring fed pools, the two salt water pools (which Logan preferred), or sliding down the 2 watersides. We had a blast! The pools were of varying degrees of heat and depth so there was something for everyone. Dave and I lamented not getting to spend any time in the hottest pools with all the Asians. But I'm sure we'll go again when the kids are older and get to take advantage of them. Dustin has requested we make this trip 5 times a year.

With all the minerals in the pools it was extra easy to float. Dustin and Brooklyn were able to keep up with the fish we call Logan. It was fun to see them all kicking around. It drizzled almost the whole time we were there, but it was still enjoyable. We spent 4 hours there and had to drag the kids out to eat lunch and get on the road home. For the future, they allow food so we will bring food with us.

On our way home we hit up the Hill Air Force Base Museum. It was really interesting to see all the planes. Dustin loved the yellow one above best (it had a skull on the side) and Logan loved the monster one below. We got there an hour before they closed, and that was more than enough time. It was also free, so bonus!

After that we headed home, took baths and got ready for Sunday. It was a great vacation! One night, but everyone has requested we do it again. I'm sure we will. Maybe it will be our Spring Break tradition.

Brooklyn has been teething lately. She drools like crazy and constantly has her fingers in her mouth. She's also started to say TONS of words. My favorite is "Hello". She already said Hi, but something is infinitely more cute about the full version.

My surger was out of commission and I finally got it fixed! To make sure it worked I made Brooklyn a dress. It's a little big for her, but should fit this summer. I found the pattern online and added sleeves. It's a good thing I got it working too, the same week I had 4 different friends ask me to do some mending for them (hemming 6 pairs of pants, taking in 1 dress, and hemming 1 prom dress). I charge them, so it's a nice little way to earn extra money.

Brooklyn, Dustin and I have set a goal to go to the park 2 days a week. We walk to the Cabana Park which is almost a mile from our house. It's a cute little park and most of the time we convince friends to meet us there. They are happier when we get outside time in regularly.

Brooklyn and Dustin love picking flowers! They are especially happy they can always pick dandelions and the little blue flowers that appear in our grass. I can't believe it's already this warm. we really need to get in the yard and do some work.

Papa Mike made Dustin a knife and he's been proudly carrying it around all over the place! If he thinks I won't notice he sneaks it to the store or to School. He LOVES it. He uses it to cut up paper. He would use it on food but doesn't want to have to wash it.

Easter!

Happy Easter! I can't believe how this holiday has just flown by for us. I'm sure it has something to do with Spring Break landing on Holy Week and the weekend of LDS General Conference. I'm exhausted from all the activities and preparation we did, but it was mostly fun things.

We got some cute Easter clothes this year so I decided to take some pictures of the kids. The boys pants had to be hemmed up, and will probably be long enough to be worn again next year (if the shirts are still an acceptable length.

The kids didn't want to take pictures at all. I had to take over 300 pictures to get them all smiling. I really wanted a shot with the daffodils as the background but they refused to all smile at the same time in that location. So imagine how cute this would have been as a background.

Brooklyn and Dustin were sick during this one and Logan had a huge cut on his chin. Good thing they know how to fake it.

Some of the fun things we did over spring break were visiting the library, playing at several parks, making crescent rolls, swimming at the Murray Pool, painting easter bunnies, shopping for Conference snacks (healthy with Mom... unhealthy with Dad), picking out a new book each, visiting Dad at work and playing basketball in his office,

The Monday before Easter we had a FHE lesson on Holy Week. We discussed what happened every day leading up to the Resurrection. Every day of the week I reminded the kids what happened that day and we discussed more. They were fascinated that nothing was recorded on Wednesday and decided that Jesus either visited with his family or went to Lagoon. That's what we would do if we knew we only had one more week to live. We also died eggs for our Activity.

Friday we got to attend the Jordan River Temple open house. It was great to get to take the kids inside! They loved the oxen under the baptismal font and the Angel Moroni on top, but the all time favorite was the stained glass windows! Every time we passed one they pointed them out with excitement. We were very disappointed the escalators were removed and stairs were added, but other than that it was a fabulous trip to the temple.

We went on several Conference walks and a bike ride to the park. Logan rode the whole .8 miles to and back by himself. Dustin and Brooklyn walked to but road back in the bike trailer.

Saturday morning we also went to Mike and Alison's house for an egg hunt. The kids had a blast finding eggs and eating all the candy before we got home. We also found Grandma Sheila and Papa Mike's Easter package and ate way too much candy Saturday.

There were so many great Conference talks this time I decided that I need to actually purchase a copy of the Ensign in paper format instead of just reading it online. Probably my favorite quote was by Elder Bryan Taylor "To mothers... who often feel overwhelmed and underwater while striving to raise a 'sin-resistant generation', never underestimate your central role in God's Plan."

The  boys started coughing again this Tuesday morning and I'm really hoping it's just allergies to everything that is blooming instead of getting sick again. This morning Dustin exclaimed "I have the weasels again! I sound like a pig. Sigh!" Which means he has a wheezy cough. I am so ready for healthy kids again!