Random May

Our new house had some beautiful pink and yellow tulips.  Brooklyn thought they were so beautiful that she should pick them and bring them inside.:

I wasn't very happy but it was hard to be mad at her - she was pretty proud of those flowers:

Brooklyn had a little friend come over and play.  The little girl immediately found the princess skirt and shoes.  Brooklyn decided to dress up too - in a ninja shirt, backpack, knight helmet and necklace.  Love her creativity!

Brooklyn's hair was getting long and it was driving me nuts!  It was always tangled and kind of scraggly looking so I cut it.  The before picture:

The after picture:

Micah has been working hard on potty training and he has had some success so he got a lego toy that he has wanted:

I found this pink tutu on sale and bought it.  Brooklyn loved it!  She kept pulling it out of the dirty clothes before I could wash it:

 

Brooklyn helping Dad mow the lawn:

Micah had his Joy School graduation.  l-r: Emmi, Peyton, Brandon, Emree and Micah.  Overall Micah enjoyed Joy school.  The last half of the year he became much more clingy and it was hard to drop him off.  But after I picked him up he was always really happy and excited about what he did that day.  But he still liked it a lot more when it was at our house.  



Hike to Heart Lake

On Memorial Day in the morning we stayed home and did a lot of cleaning and organizing.  We finished early in the afternoon and decided on an impromptu hike.  We got out our trusty hike book and decided to try Heart Lake.  It said the hike was 4 miles up to the lake, and since we were starting late in the day we decided we wouldn't actually try to make it to the lake, we would just hike and enjoy the scenery and turn around when we felt like it.  It was a great plan that never happened.

Here we are at the trailhead:

We got started on the hike and realized that most of the hike was through a burned out area.  The fire was about 10 years ago so small trees were growing but it definitely diminished the beauty of the trail.  That made us more eager to get to the lake:

The kids hiked really well.  We stopped for water and snack breaks every once in a while.  We also played games.  All of the kids would run up ahead and hide (we almost always saw them hide, so they weren't too far away).  Then they would wait for us to walk past so they could jump out and yell "Rarr!"  It helped to pass the time.  Micah was really funny about it - he would go and hide, and then he would jump out and start laughing.  Then he would yell "Micah strikes again!" and run off to go hide again.  It was pretty funny. 

Here we are during a break:

The boys walked the whole way to the lake.  Brooklyn was only carried the last little bit.  We made it to Heart Lake!:

It was beautiful at the lake.  We found out that it is called Heart's Lake because the lake is in the shape of a heart:

 

We stopped and had a snack at the lake.  We noticed dark clouds rolling in and heard thunder in the distance so we cut the break short, said a prayer for safety, and headed back.  We made pretty good time.  We were about an hour from the end of the hike when it started to rain (but not thunder and lightning, counting our blessings).  It poured and turned the trail to mud with miniature river's running down the middle of it.  Reed carried Brooklyn most of the way after that and I carried Micah off and on.  We made it back to the van, but the kids were exhausted and wet and cold, and extremely muddy.  We decided we may have over done it for our first hike of the season, but the kids really did do a great job.  We drove out of there and went to find the nearest town.  I grabbed some snacks from a gas station and we made a dinner of chocolate milk and muffins.  Then we headed home.  I think everyone except me fell asleep on the way home. 

Mother's Day

The kids were so excited for Mother's day this year.  The week before I would catch them sneaking off to go work on a project.  The night before Mother's day Alan was so excited he almost couldn't sleep.  That morning I slept in and the kids brought me breakfast (French toast) in bed.  Before I could take a bite they started giving me their gifts.  It was really cute.

Conner gave me a plant he planted at school and a plant he got at church the week before.  He also went to the store with Reed and bought me a grape Kool-Aid.

Brooklyn made a vase with a handprint flower at Joy School (it was at our house so she got to participate):

Brooklyn wanted in on Micah's picture:

Micah with his hand print flower and vase:

Alan made: a card at school, an M&M game, a card at home, a coupon to take me out for ice cream, a bracelet at church, and a plant from school:

I love these kids so much!:

Reed made me dinner: pork flautas.  It was so nice to come home from church and have dinner ready in the crockpot.  It was so good!:

He also made a chocolate lover's cheesepie.  It was delish!:

I am so blessed to have the family I do! 

Conner's Birthday Party

It was Conner's turn for a friend party this year.  I talked to Conner about it and he really wanted to invite a few kids from his school class.  I said I would try - we don't really know any of the families of the kids so I wasn't sure if this would work.  I managed to get two of the kids from his class to come: Connor and Simon.  We also invited Hiram, who is a friend from church.  We decided to go to the indoor trampoline park and then go back to our place for cake and ice cream and presents. 

 

Conner with his friends: l-r  Hiram, Conner, Connor, Simon



Simon:

Playing dodgeball:

Go Micah!

Connor:

Alan about to make a slam dunk:

Hiram:

 

Brooklyn was cautious - she went backwards instead of jumping:

We went back to our house and had pizza

and cake and ice cream.  Conner requested the same chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting.  This year it was Conner's golden birthday so we put gold chocolate coins around the outside of his cake.

Make a wish!:

Conner had a fun time.  Conner went to the dollar store with me and helped pick out the things he wanted in the treat bags.  One of the things he picked were fake mustaches.  Here is Alan sporting a mustache - very debonair!:

Conner turns 7!

After school on Conner's birthday I took the kids to the park to see the baby geese.  They were pretty cute...

but a little intimidating.  There were so many and they all started to run toward you when you got close.  Since the kids weren't sure of the geese's intentions they took shelter on the picnic table.

After that we played at the park and headed home.  That day Conner opened his presents from his brothers and sister:

Conner loves to play games, especially Monopoly:

Here is a little bit about 7 year old Conner:
favorite color: orange and blue
favorite food: candy, pizza
favorite song: "Best day of my life" by American Authors
favorite book: Calvin and Hobbes
favorite part of school: getting candy for being on purple (good behavior)
least favorite part of school: getting in trouble
who are your friends: Simon, Connor, Sky
what do you like to do: watch tv or play the wii, going swimming
What do you want to be when you grow up?: I am going to make stuff out of wood and sell it at a store called The Woodster.  I would make hiking sticks, rocking chairs, maybe doors, maybe floors.

April

 Easter was the week after we moved so we got to do our egg hunt in our new backyard:

Brooklyn found one:

Micah:

There is a large variety of trees and plants in our yard.  I wish I knew what they all are.  Here is Alan finding an egg by a mystery bush:

Conner found one right by the house:

Random picture of Micah and Brooklyn enjoying a sucker after visiting Dad at the office:

Alan entered the STEAM expo this year (a science fair).  In his ECS program this year he made a computer game so he presented that at his table.  He did a great job explaining his game to the judges:

The kids got free tickets to the circus this year.  We decided to go and check it out.  It was fun to see all the different acts.  

Brooklyn and Micah painting: