Growing Up

I debated splitting April's post up, but friends are blogging about Father's Day and I just wish I was caught up enough to blog about something that happened yesterday instead of two months ago.  I'm bound and determined to catch up!!

So this post is all about growing up.  We are getting close to May where the school year ends and we all of a sudden get a year older.  In fact...Taylor turned 10 in April and will be in 5th grade next year!  That just can't be!

She and I had a fun birthday lunch at IHOP and of course Kaylee threw her a fun birthday party with some of her friends!

  She has some great friends that just tumble, flip and giggle through life.  They have soooo much fun! 

 Kierra will be in KINDERGARTEN!!  In April she went to K-days at her Dr.'s office.  K for Kierra and Kindergarten!  She was so brave during her shots.  She just nervously giggled through the whole thing!  :)

 Kaylee will be the oldest in the school next year!!  I just don't feel this old!  5th grade was a HUGE year.  Between the overnighter at Clear Creek, to the wax museum to Hope of America...5th grade is busy!  Kaylee has had the greatest time!  Can you see her there to the right of the flag?!  ;)

 And with all of that going on...she still has swim practice and meets!  She works so hard in ALL that she does!

 Cousins are taller every time we see them...

Close friends go to prom!

And we celebrate our 13th Anniversary!!

 (with a card from my dad of course!)

 Each sleepy night brings a new day!

We are outside a lot more...either eating a Sunday meal or just playing.  

We are cherishing these moments when the kids just enjoy being together!

 And smiley boys remind us that we are still young!  Wow we love these kids!  I love being the mom of girls and then turning around and remembering that I'm the mom of boys now too! 

 

April was fun!  From Spring Break to the end!  It was busy, but relaxing....just gearing us up for what I call.....

Spring Break 2013

Easter kicked off our week long Spring Break.  The first part of the week we just did some things around here.  We had never been on the new frontrunner train, so for Family Home Evening that Monday we took the frontrunner clear up to Salt Lake to go to dinner, see the Joseph Smith Movie, go to the children's museum in the Church History Museum and use a gift card at The Cheesecake Factory.  The forecast did say it was supposed to rain and at one point during the day I remember thinking that I should grab the umbrellas, but of course I forgot!  It made for an extra fun memory!  It was a great night!

On Tuesday we went swimming at the Legacy Center.  This was the only picture I got.  It was Isaac's first time swimming and it wiped him right out!

Then when Matt got out of work on Wednesday night we went up to Kemmerer to visit Grandma and Grandpa Gardner.  We played games, celebrated Taylor's 10th birthday, Matt and his dad went on a horse ride and the rest of us went to the park! 

I LOVE these pictures!  Grandma and little baby kisses are the best!  :)

 

 I REALLY love just watching my kids be together!  They have so much fun and come up with the most random, but fun things to do!  I always love simple getaways with just our family!

 

 After the boys got back from riding horses we took the kids to the fairgrounds there to ride around a little bit.The girls always have a good time and Matt wishes they could be around the horses more!  At one point there was a little miscommunication with Matt and I (ok...it really was all my fault).  Long story short, I had let go of the horse that Kierra was on and Matt had taken off to run the horse he was on...which of course got Kierra's horse excited!  He was just excited to run and play!  Kierra was screaming!  :)  She was so good though and just held on for dear life.  As soon as that horse slowed down she slid right off the saddle!  She was pretty scared and it could've been a bad deal, but after a few minutes she got right back on and seemed to still enjoy it!

On Thursday night we drove through beautiful Star Valley to go up to Rexburg to visit our cousins that we used to call our Heber cousins...but will now be called the Rexburg cousins!  Matt was right on this one...we should've probably waited and done that drive the next morning.  It's just too beautiful of a drive to do when it is dark, but we did it and got to Rexburg around 10 or 10:30...we didn't go to bed until really late and I took this one last birthday picture of Taylor before midnight!

 It was fun to share a room with these 2 little boys.  They are fun to fall asleep with and fun to wake up to in the morning.

 The kids were good to watch some of general conference together. 
That is kinda a hard thing to do when you don't get to see cousins very often and all you want to do is play...but everyone listened and took good notes!  :)

Spring Break was perfect!  It was a relaxing getaway for everybody! 
Everyone had someone to hang out with and everyone traveled great!  Even Isaac!
 We bowled, played a new game called Mow and just had a great time being with family!