Easter

We had a very nice Easter. The kids woke us up nice and early(5am), but we managed to stay in bed until 6:30(still too early, but better). The kids hunted for Easter Eggs that the Easter Bunny had left around the house and looked through their Easter Baskets. We enjoyed a boiled egg and blueberry muffin breakfast. We were finished with all of that by 8am. We had 5 1/2 hours to kill before church started. We played games, watched church movies, and colored. 

We had Gawbie and Grandpa over for dinner and then the kids did another Easter egg hunt outside(Daddy and Grandpa hid the eggs). Here is the egg Tyler found.

The girls colored eggs on Saturday. I bought an egg coloring kit from Walmart that dyed my fingers different colors and really didn't make our eggs any cooler than other years. Won't try that again.

The kids had coordinated outfits, but Ashley decided, last minute, that her dress was uncomfortable and she didn't want to wear it. So she ended up in a dress that she already owned.

I can't do an Easter post without reflecting on the real reason we celebrate. We watched a movie about the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ for Family Home Evening last week. The girls were really sad when they saw all of the awful things Christ had to endure. It was a sweet parenting moment when we agreed and then explained that he did it for us, because he loves us so much. I am thankful for Jesus Christ and all that he endured so that I can one day return to live with Him, Heavenly Father, and my family.

Cute Pics of the Kiddos

I took the kids to the nickel arcade during spring break. They loved it. This was one of the few things Tyler could enjoy too.

Tyler loves the park. We've had a couple of warm days and I've taken them to the park. Alyssa loves to take Tyler on the things he can do.

Ashley had a pilgrim feast at school last month.

Alyssa had an Indian day at school. I'm getting better at making her costumes.

Gawbie had a Frozen party the week that it came out on DVD. It was the first time they had seen the movie. Now they've seen it at least ten times, not to mention how many times they've listened to the soundtrack on top of that. They loved the Frozen party.

Tyler crawled up to this magnet board one day and discovered it was fun to suck on. I love how it looks like he is kissing himself.

Ashley loves to hold her baby brother.

He is growing up way too fast.

I've been wanting to post all of these pictures for awhile. I've installed the blogger app on my phone and IPad since I can't figure out what is up with our desktop. It's kind of nice to post from wherever I want, so it may be the way I do it from now on. 

Spring Break

For spring break, we took a trip down to California. The main reason for the trip was to attend the wedding of Danny's oldest brother. We also got to do a lot of other fun things and visit with family.

We drove all day Friday and really wished that our kids were better in the car. Seriously, how did our parents take long trips without the DVD player and IPads? Saturday was the wedding and reception. Both were very nice. On Sunday, we spent the day with Uncle Brian's family. Our kids always get along so well.

They were excellent hosts and we were sad to leave them. That night, we visited Danny's Grandparents. Our kids had never even met them. When we left, the girls told us they were so nice and that we should visit them again.

On Monday, we spent the day at Seaworld with Shannon's family.

It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun. We sat in the splash zone at the Shamu show and really felt bad after the first wave of cold water hit Tyler. He screamed! I had no idea it would feel so cold. After all, it was at least 80 degrees that day and we were all really hot.

The girls loved everything, but I think their favorite thing to do was ride the Manta(the only roller coaster in the park). They went on it 4 times.

After Seaworld, we headed to my parents house. We spent Tuesday visiting with them and taking care of my mom, who had just done her 2nd chemotherapy treatment. The kids had fun exploring the house and spending time with Grandparents. Ashley found this toy bucket, and had fun pushing Tyler around in it.

We headed back on Wednesday, and the kids were equally difficult for the ride home. We were sad to say goodbye to family and the summer-like temperatures, but we were also glad to return home. Ashley was especially happy to be with Casey again.

Frustrated

We're still alive and doing well. Something weird is going on with our computer and blogger that is preventing me from adding our pictures onto our blog. Anyone else ever have that problem??? It's frustrating, to say the least.
Some major events of the past few months that I haven't been able to post about are Alyssa's Baptism, Tyler hitting 8, 9, and now 10 months, a couple of fun parties for the girls at school, and some super cute pictures of Tyler. Wish I could post them because he has changed so much in the past three months.
Tyler is 10 months today. He is crawling really well now, and just starting to stand up to things. However, when he does stand up, he doesn't know how to get back down and then cries. So cute.
Ashley is ready for the school year to be done. She has lost 2 teeth with two more loose ones working their way out. Her imagination is as wild as ever and her favorite thing to do is play outside with our dog, Casey(no matter what the weather is like).
Alyssa is a great big sister. She takes care of her sister and brother so well(at least when she wants to, in the case of Ashley). She is having a really good year in school, but I think is ready for the year to be over so she can sleep in again.(spring break will be nice). She also loves piano, singing, activity days, and playing with friends
We are excited for our trip to California at the end of the week for Bobby's wedding. It will be nice to spend time with family and to enjoy some really warm weather. Here's hopping I can get some pictures on here soon.

Tyler

 Here are some pictures of our little cutie from the past month. I took this first one on his 6 month birthday. He had a doctors appointment that week and here are his stats:

26.5 inches (40%)

16 lbs. 15 oz.(36%)





Tyler got to see Santa at Gawbie's house. I'm surprised he didn't pull Santa's beard off with the way he has been grabbing at things lately.

 He got this little car for Christmas, so we have been testing his "sitting up" skills by putting him in there to play. He loves the little car.

 And here is a shot that I took yesterday(a couple of days past his 7 month mark). He is in the early stages of sitting up(he can sit unsupported for long periods of time, but sometimes he falls over quickly)

He sticks anything and everything in his mouth. He especially loves soft things like clothing and hair. He has been eating solids for a month now and has tried multiple veggies and fruits on top of the rice cereals. He doesn't like his veggies as much, so we are working on finding one that he does like. He is a very happy baby and does really well adjusting to new situations. He took his first plane ride this month and slept for most of the two flights. We just adore him and probably spoil him with attention.

December Photo Bomb

I should have posted 8 different times during the past month, but just never got around to it. Here are some of the things we've been up to. Tyler had his hypospadias repair surgery done at the beginning of last month. He did so well through all of it and was hardly even fussy afterwards. We sure love him and we are so grateful that he is such a good/happy baby.

My grandmother died shortly before Thanksgiving so we attended the funeral up in Logan the first week of December. All of my siblings were able to be there for it. It was fun to see some of my extended family that I haven't seen in years.

Ashley lost her first tooth. She hated having a loose tooth and worked hard at getting it out. She was so proud that she was able to pull the tooth out herself instead of having Daddy do it for her.

The girls had a service project at their school on the last day before Christmas break. Each of the kids was encouraged to donate a teddy bear for homeless children. Then on that day they formed a long line and sent the teddy bears down the line one by one to be hugged by each child. Some of the kids got into it a little more than others. It was cute to see.

The kids got to see Santa this year at their Grandmother's house. He made a visit to her preschool class and Alyssa and Ashley loved being able to be a part of it.

Alyssa had a birthday party at our house on December 21st. She chose a Magic Themed Birthday Party because she wanted to invite boys and girls. We had about 15 show up for the party, so it was a little crazy. She even talked Danny into being her Magician and doing a magic show. We checked out some books from the library so that he could learn a few cool tricks. She had a lot of fun which made all of the work worth it in the end.

We attended our Ward Christmas Party where the girls got to dress up like characters from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." They even took Tyler in to pose for a picture, but it didn't really turn out.

Alyssa also participated in our neighborhoods Live Nativity. She made a great angel, but was a little under dressed for the weather and ended up shivering through half of it.

We made Gingerbread houses the lazy way this year. I discovered that the lazy way was harder than how I normally do it. The graham crackers fell apart and the store bought frosting didn't harden fast enough. The girls sure enjoyed eating the goodies though.

These next few pictures are just some cute ones of the kids together. We sure love these three kiddos.

Christmas morning. I just love the looks of excitement on their faces.

We went down to Arizona the day after Thanksgiving for my nieces wedding. It was fun to be around family and enjoy the warm weather.

The girls loved spending time with their cousins and playing outside.

Some other noteworthy things that we didn't get pictures of:

• Danny's sister was married the day after Thanksgiving so we got to attend that wedding also.
• We had a houseful on Thanksgiving and enjoyed spending the day with family.
• Danny's uncle passed away a couple of days before Thanksgiving which was quite a shock for all of us.
• We received news of two pregnancies on Danny's side of the family and look forward to having some cousin friends for Tyler to play with when he is older.

All in all, it has been a very eventful past month for us. Quite the roller coaster for our emotions having tragedy mixed with the extreme joy. We are just so grateful for the knowledge that we have that families are eternal and that we can find comfort through the Holy Ghost. We are so grateful for family and friends who mean so much to us.

Tyler

 And what is a blog update without some pictures of our little cutie. I took this first picture on the day he turned 4 months.

 These next two were taken on the day he turned 5 months. He is getting really good at rolling from his tummy to his back, but he hasn't gone from his back to his tummy yet.

 He loves grabbing his little toes, especially when there isn't anything covering them.

Here are the promised pictures of his room. It is definitely more our style than the Top Gun theme that was going on in there before.

We love our little guy. He is growing way too fast, but we are trying to enjoy every minute of it.

Family Fun

 The girls had a day off of school on Friday, so Danny took the day off so we could do something fun together as a family. We came up with a couple of different ideas, compared prices, and asked the girls which they wanted to do. The final decision was made and we headed off for a family fun center called "Boondocks." We used to have passes to a different family fun center, but we had never been to this one. Some of the highlights of the day were the flight simulator(I think they did it like 8 times. I only went once before deciding that my body is too old for stuff like that. I got more sick on it than I would have liked), the XD Theater(they did this one at least 5 times), the bumper boats, and the go karts. The most exciting part about the go karts was that they could drive them themselves. They loved that.

We spent a good 6 hours there before we finally dragged them away. We were all starving, so we headed off to one of our favorite restaurants(an all-you-can-eat Pizza/Pasta/Salad Bar) for a really late lunch/early dinner. Ashley took forever to eat, so instead of heading home, we headed straight down to the BYU Basketball game that we had tickets for. Grandpa came with us and the kids all did really well, especially with the treats that Danny took them to get.

It was a fun day, but we were all super tired by the time we got home that night(around 9:30).