Sunday, August 31, 2014

April Celebrations

To break up April a little bit I thought I would do all of the fun celebrations in this post and the random April stuff in another!

To start off the month Taylor turned 11 on the 4th.  She had a few friends (and sisters too) over to hang out and we were also able to visit with a few cousins.  It's always fun to celebrate a birthday!!  :)
On April 17th Taylor was involved in what is called the "Hope of America"!  Talk about a celebration!  This is the 2nd one of these that we have been to and it is really pretty amazing!  All of the 5th graders in the school district getting together to celebrate our country and our freedom!  Our school got to be part of the star part of the flag this year.  Click to see Last year where Kaylee was the outer yellow edge.  Taylor had a great time and it turned into a great date night for Matt and I!  :) 


The 21st of April was our 14th anniversary.  It's a busy time of year and tough to ditch kids and get away.  I remember this particular day was just busy and I was afraid the kids were gonna be upset if we left them for the evening.  I was also trying to really be good about eating and exercising (it goes in spurts) so I didn't want to eat out...or go to a movie...and be tempted by the popcorn and soda.  I was being difficult...why in the world has he stuck with me for 14 years?  Anyway...Matt is amazing!  He totally got the kids on bored for a surprise for me.  They cleaned up and got their dinner ready, so that Matt could take me on a quick hike up to the "G" in Pleasant Grove.  While at the "G" he pulled out Subway and some drinks and it was the perfect little anniversary getaway!  It was just simple, but also just what I needed during such a crazy time of year!  I am so thankful when he (and the kids) can totally sense my stress and know how to just get things done so I don't have to worry and fret!
And the final celebration was Easter!  We did all of the normal traditions.  Egg dying, a picture in the hall first thing Easter morning before a little Easter egg hunt!  And then a Sunday picture right after church before kids ran off to change clothes!

 

I love these pictures, first with just the girls and then all of them in their Sunday Easter best!  We don't often do the new outfit thing for Easter, but the girls have been needing new stuff for a while so we thought this would be perfect!  I sure love this family and walking to 9am church and then having the rest of the day together!  I love the simple celebration that Easter is!  I love to be able to really think about our Savior and His atonement and what it means to me as a mother and a wife and a person.  I'm thankful for these little celebrations that make us all happy and smile and remind us that yes, we are getting older, but that life is fun and good and hmmm...even full of laughter!  (Matt must've been up to something behind me while I was taking the picture!)  :)

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Wyoming Spring Break 2014

Oh FUN times!!  I had forgotten what a great time the kids and I had on this Spring Break trip (April 9-13, 2014)!  We wanted to just get away for the whole week but Matt couldn't have pulled that off with work.  SO...that meant we had an extra seat in the van.  It was fun to bring our next door neighbor/best friend/5th sister along on the trip with us!

We all piled in and were on our way!  The kids were so great!  It always helps to have the older ones be able to take care of the little ones!

 
It was soooo super windy and still pretty wintery in the mountains so although we were able to take Courtney to a couple of fun places we just had to say "jump out, smile for the picture, now get back in the van!!"  Vedauwoo was one of the very windiest! Wish we could've explored more!
Same with Ames Monument!
We visited a couple of those places really quick while we were on our way to see cousins in Cheyenne.  We went there for a day to play and have dinner!  Our Fort Collins cousins came up to see us there as well!  It was an awesome surprise!  We sure love these cousins!! (and aunts and uncles too!)  :)
These two are pretty fun to watch together! 
The kids had so much fun playing games!
And of course Thomas is in heaven when he gets to hang out with the boy cousins!!
 The rest of the trip was spent back in Laramie at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  We spent a morning at the Laramie Rec Center pool:
 

Playing dressups in Grandma's basement:
Riding Grandpa's Tractor:
Hopefully Courtney's mom will let her come again...even after watching this video:  :)
 
We went out to Burger King for lunch:
I love these pictures below!  We were all so glad to have Courtney with us!  Hopefully we didn't corrupt her too much!  She and Taylor are the same age, but she is friends with all of the girls.  She and Emily hang out a ton too!  It is amazing and so fun that she just fits right in with our family!  We LOVED that she was able to come with us!
Back to the travelog:  We went and played games at the church:
 
We shopped for souvenirs for Courtney at the Brown and Gold outlet:
 
And watched TV with Uncle J and Grandpa:
And of course we had to fit in some batting practice in the batting cage!
So how is that for a fun filled spring break?!  These are the best kids ever!  They know how to have fun!  They know how to be helpful so we can pull off things like this!  It was a wonderful, much needed break from the hustle and bustle of life!  It was definitely fun to be just us and enjoy some time together!