Odds and Ends

I'm a little behind on my blogging lately. Here are some of the things we have been up to.
The girls had a piano recital. They both did very well. They even played a duet together for one of their pieces. Here they are receiving a trophy after the recital from their teacher.

We went to a BYU baseball game last month and these three were lucky enough to run into Cosmo on the concourse. Tyler was the most excited. He loves Cosmo.

These little boys love being outside, especially Camden. Unfortunately, I don't love to have him outside until he can walk. I slipped out one day to do something and came back to the door to this. I'm not sure why neither of them is wearing pants. It must have been close to bed time.

 I worked for a week straight turning this garden plot into soil that I can plant in again.

 This is where we are at now. I still need to add topsoil and plant. It is almost there.

We took the girls to see Saturday's Warrior Live last week. I didn't get a picture of Danny and Ashley because she was suffering with a stomach bug that night and barely made it through the play without puking.
It brought me back to my childhood and I spent the next three days singing the songs in my head.

We are in the last two weeks of school before summer starts. It is always bitter/sweet for both mom and kids when the end of school comes. It will be nice to not be so scheduled for a little while.

Camden's First Birthday

 Our baby turned 1 a couple of weeks ago. We made him his very own chocolate cake to dig into. He didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Tyler. Our favorite part was watching him stick his mouth right onto the cake and start sucking up the frosting. We didn't get any pictures of it, but it was hilarious.

He didn't quite get the whole opening presents thing. I think Tyler and Ashley opened most of his presents. He was pretty tired by the time we got to his party and it was a little too much excitement.

It has been so fun watching Camden grow this year. He is very good at crawling and standing up to just about anything. He walks along furniture, as well, but has not figured out how to stand on his own or walk. That is just fine with us. He climbs up stairs, but doesn't know how to go down yet. He babbles a lot. His favorite words are "Dada, Mama. and Baba." He also knows how to wave and to clap. He imitates sounds really well. He has three teeth right now with more on the way. Here is a great shot of his single top tooth(none of my other kids have had just one grow in alone like that).

We sure love this little guy and look forward to the things he will learn to do in the upcoming year.
Here are his growth stats: weight: 19 lbs 10 oz. 22% (he hasn't even doubled his birth weight yet)
                                        height: 30.5 inches 75%

Tulip Festival

We went to The Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point as a family. The flowers were beautiful as usual. We thought this flower bed was funny because there was a single yellow flower in the middle of all of the purple ones.

The kids all love the fountains even more than the flowers.

They also love the waterfalls.

 In our opinion, these four are pretty dang cute.

It was a beautiful day and so much fun.

Mom's 60th Birthday Party

Shannon and I threw a birthday party for Mom's 60th birthday on Saturday. I had a lot of fun putting all of the decorations together.

 Pictures from her childhood

 I especially loved this pineapple palm tree fruit platter. So much fun.

I failed to get pictures after the guests arrived. we served BBQ chicken sandwiches, fruit, and veggies. People just came and went as they pleased and visited with each other while they were there. Her Alpine friends enjoyed being able to see their new house in addition to celebrating her birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom/Gawbie! We love you!

Spring Break

 We had a staycation for spring break(we usually do). On Monday, I took the kids to the Family Fun Center here in Lehi. I didn't get any pictures, but we rode rides, played mini golf, and jumped on the inflatables. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we mostly stayed home. I had some stuff I needed to get done around the house and the girls were happy playing with friends those days. Ashley and Danny did go out for an overdue Daddy/daughter date on Wednesday night. They went to IHOP and Nickel City

They had a lot of fun and Ashley was all smiles that night.
On Thursday, I took the kids back to "This is the Place." We had gone last year during spring break and the kids loved it. We had only spent an  hour and half there last year and hardly explored the place. So this year we went back with plans to spend most of the day there. They got to hold baby chicks.

 We also rode the train, panned for gold, dug up gemstones, hammered designs in leather, ate some donuts, and played on some unique play structures.

 I still had to drag them away after 5 hours of play. I guess we'll have to go again next year.
That night, we went to the BYU baseball game. The kids were excited to have some one on one time with Cosmo out on the concourse(especially Tyler).

 On Saturday, Grandpa took us over to the house of another family from the school to see a horse that was only 4 days old. It was so little and cute.

 They also climbed up on these hay bales. 

The girls were excited to go back to school again this morning and it will be nice to have routines again, but I also look forward to creating more memories this summer.

First Camping Trip with our New Trailer

 We kicked off our spring break with an over night trial run with our new camper. We just drove south west about an hour, pulled off the road a bit and camped.It was out in the middle of nowhere, but we had so much fun. We set up next to this really big hill that was obviously a popular shooting location. There were bullet shells everywhere.

 Here is a picture from the top of that big hill. We started off with a short hike to explore the surrounding land a bit. We saw a lot of red ant hills and a few jack rabbits, but not much else.

 After our hike, Danny taught the girls how to shoot his 22 rifle. They loved it. Even Tyler got to try it out (with a lot of help from Daddy). This was one of our targets.

 Danny wasn't too happy that the girls shot at his Mt. Dew can.

We had a hot dog dinner and than did more shooting until it got too dark and cold. Then Danny, Tyler, Alyssa, and Ashley played Yahtzee while I put Camden to bed.
The next morning we tried a family bike ride. The girls had fun learning to ride a bike on dirt. We explored this little dried up river bed a bit.

We also did some more shooting before heading back home. It was fun to try out our camper and we look forward to many more camping trips in the months to come.

Easter Fun

We enjoyed our Easter celebration this year. We dyed Easter Eggs on the Friday before Easter.

 We went to Easter Eggstream at Thanksgiving Point on Saturday where the kids got to do 6 different Easter Egg Hunts.

 (they also got to ride on this cow train and play on some inflatables)

 

Camden slept for part of it. He was the keeper of the empty eggs. We had filled up that stroller basket by the time we were done.

 We tried to get a nice picture of the kids in their new Easter clothes, but Tyler wouldn't cooperate so Mommy got to stand in the picture too.

After church, Shannon and her family came over for dinner and another egg hunt. Here are the kids right before they went outside to hunt for their eggs.

 I love Easter because it reminds us of our Savior and his Atonement. I'm so grateful that he loves us and that he was willing to sacrifice himself so that we can have the opportunity to return to our Father in Heaven. I also love that Easter always comes in the Spring and that it is finally getting warmer.

Danny's Birthday.

 I know this is from almost two months ago, but Danny had his 35th birthday. We had a lot of fun wrapping and giving him this really big present. The funniest part being that the kids and I were not at home when he got home from work and he wondered if we were inside of the box. It was a new outdoor grill.

 Alyssa really wanted to make him this ice cream caramel cake that she came up with on her own.

 I made him some Mt. Dew cupcakes that I have been wanting to make for him for a year. He said they were good, but they were still cake-not a favorite treat in our household.

We sure love this Daddy of ours and had so much fun celebrating his birthday.