Drive Inn Movie Take 1

Last night we ventured out to the drive in for the 1st time this year. We stopped by Chilis and grabbed chips and salsa which was a great addition to our other treats.  It was a little cooler than we would have liked but we just cuddled in the suburban and we were plenty warm. We saw Jungle Book and Zootopia. I think the group fav was Zootopia by far. We got home about 1:30 so it was a late night but the girls love the drive in and its fun to get to cuddle up and watch a movie it was a fun night out. Love our little family and the fun adventures we have

Poor Rigs

On Tuesday night I got a panicked call from Nic. She was on her way to the ER with Rigs. Earlier in the day he had climbed onto the dollhouse to swing on the closet rod. While swinging on the closet rod it pulled out of the wall causing Rigs to fall onto a solid wood rocking horse. Although initially he felt fine throughout the day he deteriorated and Nic started to feel uneasy and so she took him in. The ER initially was unconcerned with him and made them wait in the ER waiting area for 90 minutes. He was nauseated, throwing up, and in a lot of pain. After they got him back they did x rays and a cat scan. They found that his right kidney was lacerated almost completely in half! It was decided he needed to be ambulanced to Primary Children's. Once there they monitored him to make sure the internal bleeding was decreasing and not getting worse. He was put on strict bed rest. After a full day in Primary's he was given the ok to head home on restricted activity...I don't know what that means for a very active 4 year old but Nic will be very busy watching him continuously. On Wednesday afternoon we went to visit. We had dinner and just hung out. It was fun to visit and take Rigs some get well presents.

Kinley is obsessed with Em she loves to be everywhere she is and always wants to be playing with her. 

Its crazy how much you can love someone else's kids. I feel like I love Luke, Rigs, Lydi, and Kinley close to as much as I love my own kids. I would do anything for them. Im so glad after a couple months of restriction he should be good as new.

Mobile=Messy

I knew this would happen we would work so hard to help Em get mobile and then wish she was back to her stationary self. Well the time has come and all I can do is laugh. We have always had a side table that had diapers and wipes in it. When all of the girls got mobile this was the first thing they went after and Em is no different. Let the baby proofing begin.

Saturday Fun

We have had our eyes on a lifetime play set. We had found it for as cheap as $1500 so that is what we had budgeted then facebook classifieds to the rescue. I found the same play set for $1000 just on the other side of the lake so Matt brought home a trailer from work and we went to pick it up on Saturday just before the big rain storm hit. 

The rest of the day Matt did a little yard work in between the rain and we got a few things done inside. Then later that night we were lucky enough to have grandma and grandpa invite us to dinner. They let Hallie picked where we went and she chose Chinese. We had good food and conversation. Matt is working on drawing remodeling plans for them so they can get pricing and decide how to proceed forward. They would like to add on to the back of their house this summer....so we'll see how that all works out

Yard Work Begins

After a few months of getting settled and adjusting its now time to get back into project mode and get the yard done. Although Im not excited for all the work ahead Im really excited for the yard to be done and for the kids to have a place to play. Once again Im grateful for Matt's connections he was able to get us a mini-ex last to dig the main sprinkler line.

The kids were fascinated and loved watching Matt move dirt and dig the trench

Graduation Dinner

The graduation celebration is always something fun we look forward to. I feel like most of the other staff that Matt teaches with are more like family. I love being able to see all of them and catch up. Its fun to see Matt in his element and with his students. He has been conducting these events for several years and its just fun to really see him do his thing.

Ashlee let me borrow one of her dresses to wear to the event. Its fun to get dressed up and have a fun date night. The food was yummy too

I even tried a canoli...I had never had one before. It was good but I don't know that it was something I would ask for again.

Em Is So Much Fun

This little girls is such a joy and ray of sunshine in our lives. She is 11 1/2 months. She sleeps thru the night most nights, still naps 2-3 times a day for about 2-3 hours for the first 2 and then just an short 1 hour nap to get her to bedtime. She sleeps about 12 hours at night....she likes her sleep just like the rest of us. She loves to feed herself and we always follow food with a bottle. She is in a size 3 diaper and 12-18 month clothes. We recently bought her essentially a new wardrobe since she has been growing so quickly. She definitely knows what she wants but at the same time is very laid back. She fits in perfectly. Her sisters just can't get enough of her and she lights up when she sees them. She recently has discovered balloons and she loves them. We tie one to her wrist or ankle and she will wiggle around to get it to move and then just laugh and laugh.

The other day I was out cleaning the garage when she woke up so I took her outside so I could have her where I could see her. I had just finished emptying this tote so I put her and her toy basket in it. It was a good idea for about 5 minutes and then she started trying to climb out. I love her sweet little face.

Crawling...11 1/2 Months!

This little girl has been really hesitant to become mobile. Initially I was worried that something might be wrong but she was hitting the rest of her milestones so we have just been waiting for her to make up her mind. I am lucky enough to work with some amazing people that this was right up their ally. Karen, the NICUs developmental specialist, was so helpful and gave me some things to try to that I think really helped. Now she is army crawling most of the time but is figuring out how to get on her knees slowly.

She is interested in some of the strangest things....pens, remotes, phones, and balloons. So that's what we put in front of her to get her to crawl

Parents and Pasteries

Hallie was thrilled that Matt was able to take her to parents and pastries this past week. They enjoyed donuts and some stories. Im so glad that Matt loves to spend time with the girls as much as they love spending time with the girls. I hope the girls always realize how amazingly luckily they are in the daddy department

Em's Got Rhythm and Moves

Luckily all of our kids have rhythm Im pretty convinced they get it from Matt but I can hold my own. Emery loves "dancing" with her sisters. If you have ever wondered what pure joy looks like stop here.

Spring Break Staycation

So our staycation did not start as per plan. I got a terrible stomach bug that had me throwing up and spending a significant time on the couch and feeling yucky. We decided to give it a couple days and then see how things were going. Luckily I felt good enough to get everything ready so we could head out Friday morning. Matt had  the steel topping for the MTC so he rode with some co workers to that and the girls and I headed over to the Museum of Curiosity. The girls were super excited to check everything out. It was broken down into sections. The first section we visited was the rain forest. It had a huge playground and some fun animal attractions the kids could try.

Then we went to a different area where it gave the kids a lot of opportunity to put their imagination and creativity to work. They built with blocks, colored, tried out pottery, and did some movie.

It was such a nice day we then ventured outside. The girls had a good time and specifically liked the zipline...that is until Gracie fell off. Fortunately she wasn't hurt just sad for a minute

Then we ventured out on to the grounds to see the flowers and waterfalls. We used my trusty selfie stick to get some pictures of all of us

After a while we got to hot outside so we headed back in for a cool drink and some more playing

We tested out the water works section where I was warned the kids might end up getting soaked so we did that last

I was sad Em had fallen asleep just before we got to the water works but she didn't sleep long so she got a turn in the infant water table...she wasn't quite sure what to think

Once Matt was done with work commitments we called it a day at the museum. We headed to the outlets to pick out an outfit for Em for family pictures....they didn't have it in Ogden but we were able to pick it up while we were down there. On the way back to the hotel we grabbed BBQ takeout. Then we went swimming. We had the small pool all to ourselves. 

The girls were super excited for Em to swim with them and were more than happy to help Em

Em loved swimming! She was laughing and splashing

Then we settled in for the night. The girls shared a bed and we put Em in the closet with her pack and play(thank heavens for big closets)

Saturday morning we got to sleep in a bit before we got ready to head over to Nathan's baptism. I don't know how to describe our relationship with Mindi and Corey other than the fact that they are more like family than just friends. It doesn't matter how much times passes it just seems like it hasn't been much time as all. There has always been a running joke since we found out we were having a girl that Hallie and Nathan would be betrothed to get married someday...lol

After the baptism and luncheon we headed back to see Mindi and Corey's house. It was fun to catch up and just hang out. On the way home we stopped for ice cream. Em had her very 1st ice cream cone and completely loved it.

Later that evening we met up with Chris and Krissy for dinner and to catch up. We wish we got to see them more but we had a good time. We decided to call it a night since we spent so much time visiting. We got back to the hotel, got the kids bathed, and ready for bed. Just as we got the kids tucked in and to sleep the fire alarm went off. We debated about what we should do. Hallie and Gracie were crying and scared. Em on the other hand was sacked out asleep in her closet. I hated to wake her up but Matt said we needed to go. So we wrapped the girls in their blankies and headed for the car. Once we got down the stairs we found a huge crowd of people. around the fire pit. We hung out by the fire pit and waited to see what they would do with us.

Once we got the all clear we found out a lacrosse team had hit one of the fire sprinklers while playing in the room setting off the sprinklers that flooded the 2nd floor and the water was running down flooding the 1st floor but luckily we were on the 3rd floor and could go back in and go back to bed.

It was a crazy night that the girls still talk about. They weren't to traumatized they can't wait to go back to the hotel. Sunday morning we slept in and went down to get some breakfast. Em loves bananas and I love how this picture captures this perfectly

Matt took the girls swimming since we didn't get to go the night before d/t the fire evacuation. While he did that I let Em sleep and packed everything up to head for home. On the way home we grabbed some lunch and stopped at Temple Square for a picnic and to see the beautiful spring grounds.

Hallie loves flowers, rocks, and everything natural. She was so excited she didn't know where to look first. She is usually the first one to stop and see how beautiful the world is around her and is great at brightening peoples days

I was excited to get some pictures of the girls in front of the temple. Gracie took this very original pose..lol

It was so nice to get away from everything and just have some fun. I have found we really like staycations. You don't have to go far to have fun.