March Random

 As a youth I don't know that I would have gotten up at 4 am to go to the temple. Grateful for great friends and leaders that help that a fun experience for our girls.

Liam and his little buddy Greg. They couldn't be more different but still they're friends. Always an adventure when they're together

Liam has such a amazing imagination and the way he see the world is awesome. He can turn anything into a craft project.

Liam is my walking buddy. He insists on riding his bike which requires me to push him on his bike up the hill until it get flat and then he happily rides his bike and his favorite part is the hill back to the house.

Liam loves this popcorn. Its the caramel with the chocolate drizzle. Love this time of year when we can sit out in the sun and enjoy the beautiful view that we have. This hammock chair is also a favorite 

Dressing up when you have older sisters is a pretty normal occurrence. We still working on acquiring more boy dress ups and this transformer is one of them. Bumblebee is Liam's favorite

Sometimes when you're active you get injured. Poor Liam's eye just glad it was his eyebrow and didn't get his actual eye.

Liam is my sidekick with all the kids at school so when I get together for lunch with friends it usually turns into Liam talking their ear off and both if us just loving his cuteness. this lunch date was no different.

There's a lot of magnetic building that happens around here. The other day on Instagram I saw that they were using a board to make a race track. Once I showed Liam he has been building several different ones.

Growing up my mom made sugar cookies for all the holidays. I have enjoyed doing the same things with our kids for some holidays. The kids did these ones for Easter.

For activity days we went to go see a neighbors baby goats. She has a whole bunch and the girls loved getting to do that. One thing I didn't know is that they try to eat you clothes.

Emy fell and was loved by multiple goats and was filthy

Matt does such a good job cutting Liam's hair. He still doesn't like his hair cut but I think its better if we do it at home and he can watch a show and not have to wear itchy clothes and just showers right after.

While Hallie, Gracie, and I were at Kim's half marathon Matt took the kids the the schools skate night. They had a great time.

Hoppy Easter

Easter is a fun time as the weather is changing and we're starting to get outside. I also find with holidays its a good excuse to eat good food and try new recipes. The kids each were in charge of a dish for dinner and Matt and I helped them execute it. The kids enjoy collecting candy along the "bunny trail" to find their baskets.

Hallie was able to participate in the youth bell choir this year for the Easter program

For years we have enjoyed going to Manor Care for the Easter Egg hunt but the stopped doing it this year and it makes me sad. We have taken the kids for years to do it so it feels sad that my younger ones don't get that same experience. I am grateful that my mom make the effort to put together an easter egg hunt for them and they love it as you can see in the pictures below. The main thing the kids look for is the golden egg and this year Emy found it.

Grateful for this beautiful family of ours. Parenting is a lot of work but I wouldn't change it for the world. Grateful for Matt and his support of me being able to basically be home full time. Grateful for our savior that we have to look forward to being together forever.

 

Gateway Discovery

 Discovery Gateway is a family favorite. Sometimes its hard to find something that all the kids enjoy but I suggested the other day that I could just take the other 2 and Hallie and Gracie didn't think this was a good idea. Its so fun to see how all of their brains see the world just a little different as they play and use their imagination.

Surprise! Kim's 1st Half Marathon

 Kim has been training for her 1/2 since September. I knew when she was doing it in St George that I would love to go and support her. I called Nic and she was excited to do it as well so the plan started there. Kinner's birthday was the day before so Nic didn't want to leave her so we decided to take her and I took Hallie and Gracie. My big hang up is that I had never left Liam. In the past I couldn't even consider that but with this new emotional healing therapy/coaching I am doing it seemed achievable. Matt was more than willing to help and stay home with Liam and Emy and take them to do something special. Friday was also Brit's birthday so the family girls all got together for dinner. I didn't want to miss it so I caught dinner on our way out of town. Hallie and Gracie went to dinner down the street and had a great time. It was the first time I had given them my credit card but they did great. That gave the adults the chance to visit without little ears.

After dinner we got on the road. I knew that this would be a great opportunity for growth. I was great until I got to Utah county and it started to get dark. Then I fell apart...cried until we got to Nephi. Matt had taken the kids skating so I couldn't get a hold him and that made it worse. Once I got to Nephi I was able to talk about it with Nic and realized that everything was going to be fine. From then on I really enjoyed catching up with Nic and telling the girls in the back seat to be quiet frequently. We got to the hotel about 11pm and made posters until midnight then we headed to bed ready for the next morning. After an ok night of sleep we got up and ready to head to breakfast. Dad did a good job keeping us up to date as to where she was. After we ate we headed out to the finish line. We met my mom and Kim's kids at the playground and when Kimber got close we headed over to the finish. We each stood with our individual signs in hand and our eyes tear filled and waited for her to cross the line. She was shocked and exhausted as she crossed the finish line. It was so fun to be there and I'm so glad we went.

My dad treated us to brunch after we visited at the park for a bit. It was a small town place with delicious made to order food. Even the tortillas and English muffins were home made. It was so fun to let the kids sit at their own table so we could visit. After the kids were done the owner let the kids play in the neighboring grassing lot. They picked pecans up from the ground and shelled them. They had quite the factory going.

Then we packed up and headed for home. We grabbed gas and headed to Gunnison where we dropped Nic and Kinner's off. We stayed for about 30 minutes to say hi to Kyle and the boys then jumped back on the road to get home to the rest of our family.  Such a great experience despite the sadness on the way down. Everyone was great while we were gone. I hope next time it will be a little easier. Thanks Kimber for being awesome so we could come support you! Thanks Nic for supporting me and thanks to Matt for holding down the fort and calming me down always!