Drew's Grad trip

In April we drove down to Utah to watch my brother Drew graduate from BYU.  Way to go Drew!  Ironically I don't have any pictures of that event, but I do have lots of other pictures from the trip.
We caught up with our friends, the Middlemiss family.  It was great to see them again!  We met at a park, although I didn't get any pictures with them:

This thing spun around so we were trying to brace Conner in it so that we could spin him all the way around:

Success!:

Then we went to Scheels with Drew and Brittany and Grandma and Grandpa P. 

Alan posing with the bear:

Brittany and Alan having fun on the ferris wheel:

Grandma and Grandpa and Micah.  Micah had a knuckle-white grip on that bar:

Love this picture!:

 

Micah let go long enough to give a small wave:

 

One of the mornings when we came down for breakfast there was a man there making balloon animals for the kids.  He made some really incredible things:

Alan got a sword and sword holder:

Conner got a Santa hat and a dragon (I have never seen such detailed balloon animals):

It started as a crocodile and then, because there were no other kids, and my kids were absolutely enthralled, he took it back and added to it to make the dragon:

Micah didn't request anything in particular so the guy first made him a cool hat.  Then he told Micah he had something else for him and just started to make it without telling Micah what it was going to be.  Well, Micah watched very intently until suddenly he yelled in amazement "It's a dragonfly!"  The guy got a big smile on his face, when Micah recognized it.

Side view:

Brooklyn requested a pink and purple butterfly and then the guy added a cute little penguin:

 

A few other tidbits about the trip:

- we enjoyed the hotel pool at lot and went swimming a few times

- we went to eat at an Indian Restaurant and it was delicious!

- after we went swimming one time I brought Micah and Brooklyn back to our hotel room to get showered.  I got Brooklyn's swimming suit off and then she got really mad at me (can't remember why).  I walked into the bathroom to start the water and I heard Micah yell "Mom, Brooklyn ran outside!"  Yup, she sprinted up the hallway in her birthday suit and I went chasing after her, yelling at her to come back.  That just made her run faster and she made it around the corner and almost all the way to the end of the hall before I caught her.  Luckily there was only one guy in the hall and he looked pretty amused. 

- Reed and Conner met us down there the next day.  Actually they drove through the night and made it to the hotel around 4 am.  I think Reed was trying to match my crazy stunt from a month earlier.  When I went to my Grandma's funeral on Easter weekend we looked up flights and found a cheap flight but the catch was it didn't tell you the times of your flights.  So my return trip flight landed me in Billings at 1 in the morning.  I had to make it home that night so that Reed could go to work so I drove home that night and made it home by 5 am.  Then I slept for a couple of hours and got up for the day.

- the morning after Reed got there we both woke up around 7 and when I looked over at the bed next to me I realized Brooklyn was gone.  Wow, talk about a way to get your heart pumping in the morning!  I jumped out of bed but she wasn't anywhere in our hotel room.  So I ran into the hall and luckily I saw her down the hall, talking to a lady.  Aaahh, so scary!  So after that we made sure we talked to her about staying in our hotel room and put the safety lock on the door at night (I think she could still open it but at least it would slow her down).  So that was our fun, crazy weekend! 

Hair cutting incident #2

At the beginning of April I gave the boys haircuts.  After I was done I didn't put the bag of scissors and clippers away.  Instead I showered the kids and put them to bed, and then I put the stuff away.  Well the next day I was doing something and I found a chunk of very blond hair in Brooklyn's room.  I went and looked closely at her and realized that she was missing a pretty good sized chunk of hair.  I asked her about it and she denied that it belonged to her.  After some more talking she admitted that she cut her hair.  She showed me how she took the scissors out of the bag, hid in Alan's closet and cut her hair.  Then she quietly returned the scissors to the bag.  I found quite a bit of hair in Alan's closet.

The first strand that I found in her closet: 

Now her hair is a lot thinner on one side - silly girl!

Easter 2016

We started Easter off with Micah's preschool going to visit a nursing home.  The kids sang some songs for the residents and then put on a fashion show.  The younger siblings were allowed to participate.  They are a good looking group!:

L-R: Peyton, Sam, Xander, Brooklyn, Ruth, Emmi, Micah

front row: Kai, ?



Micah being presented:

Brooklyn being presented:

Singing one of the songs:

 This Easter was different than all of the others.  My Grandpa Elzea passed away in January and my Grandma Elzea passed away shortly before Easter and they decided to have her funeral on Easter Monday.  Reed and I decided that I would fly to California for the funeral and Reed would take the kids to his parents and spend Easter with them.

Here is one of my planes:

I missed the kids but I am so glad I was able to go to both of the funerals.  I got to meet some of my relatives on my mom's side of the family that I haven't seen in a really long time and I was able to reconnect with my Aunt and Uncle and some of my cousins.  We were figuring that before this trip, the last time I had seen them was when I was about 16, which was a long time ago!  I stayed at my Aunt and Uncle's house while I was there and it was nice to just visit.  I also heard some fun stories about both of my grandparents that I had never heard before. 

One of the display tables at my Grandpa's funeral:

Having Grandma's funeral so close to Easter made me really think about why we have Easter.  I am grateful for the gospel and the promise of forever families and especially for my Savior who made it all possible!

It sounds like Reed and the kids had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa Bassett's.  Reed made sure to take pictures so that I could still see what Easter was like for them. 

Conner found his Easter basket:

Looks like Conner is cheering Micah on:

Found it!:

Brooklyn found her basket:

Hunting for eggs:

 

Ready for church on Sunday:

Family Snowshoeing Trip

 In March we rented snowshoes from the forest service office and took the kids up into the mountains to go snowshoeing.  The experience was met with mixed reactions:

Here we are at the beginning of the trail, ready to go:

Brooklyn lasted for about 100 feet.  Then she sat down and wouldn't go any further.  Heading up the trail:

She spent the rest of the trip on Reed's shoulders:

Alan loved it and begged to go further up the trail.  Here he is taking a break while we wait for everyone else to catch up:

Micah was not a fan.  After we first strapped his feet into the snowshoes he tried to take a step and promptly fell over.  After I helped him up he looked down at his snowshoes and said with great emotion "This is the WORST".  We convinced him to give it a chance and he did okay for a while but he was definitely the first one to ask to go back:

Conner enjoyed it for a while but he was ready to go back by the time we made it to the lookout.  Here he is throwing a snowball off the look out:

Cute Brooklyn on the bench at the look out:

Nice to see Micah's happy smile:

Conner:

 Alan:

Proof that I was there!:

Reed, kneeling so I can see the view behind him:

 Overall it was a fun trip and we will probably try it again next year!

Funnies

Most of these came from February and March:

"I'm looking for my chew on tie" (clip on tie) - Micah

"my tummy doesn't want to" - Brooklyn. Brooklyn's tummy can be very bossy - she said this whenever we asked her to do something that she didn't want to do.

"When I grow up I'm just going to be Brooklyn, NOT a mom" - Brooklyn.  Brooklyn went through a phase where she was very vocal about wanting her name to stay Brooklyn.

At the dollar store with Brooklyn and Micah:
A random guys stops us in the aisle and says:
"I bet that little girl (Brooklyn) runs your house."
I deny this but the guy won't let it drop.  Finally he turns to Brooklyn:
Guy - "Who's the boss?"
Brooklyn (with no hesitation) "Mom"
Guy shakes his head and walks away. 

This one isn't funny but I wanted to record it:
Micah's poor fingers.  While Reed and I were on the phone I heard Micah start to cry hard.  When I checked on him I found that his finger had been slammed in the door.  It swelled up pretty good and turned black and blue - ouch!  I debated whether to take him to the doctor but he could still bend his finger so we left it.  It healed fairly quickly and he didn't even lose his nail.
Then he stuck a key in an electrical outlet.  I came upstairs and he was standing there staring at his finger.  The top of his thumb was all black.  I thought he had got into the markers but then he said "Mom, there was blue lightning on my finger" and while I tried to process that statement I glanced at the wall and saw a metal key sticking out of an electrical outlet.  Then it clicked.  I asked if he was okay and he just started to cry.  Poor little guy.  I took him to the bathroom and ran his finger under cold water.  Some of the black mark came off but some stayed on.  Thankfully he somehow avoided getting a burn.  Then he said (pointing to a different key on the ground) "that key was SO HOT".  I picked if up and saw a black burn mark on the top of the key.  So I think he stuck a key in one side of the socket and tried to stick another key in - Yikes!  Later that day I couldn't figure out why some of our lights wouldn't turn on.  I had the idea to check the fuse box and found that the fuse was blown for the area where Micah stuck the key in.

I was trying to get Micah's bike down from the roof of the garage and Micah was cheering me on.  "Oh, Mom you are so strong, you're... Mighty!  Mighty Mom!" 

"Candy lions" (dandy lions) - Brooklyn

"wan" (van) - Brooklyn

"I'll looking for the preschool with too many kids" - Brooklyn looking for her church class in Grandma and Grandpa's ward

"That is totawee liquid!" (that is totally wicked) - Micah

Ski trip

In January I decided to take Alan skiing.  It had been a really long time since I went so we both signed up for a beginner lesson.  It was so much fun get out there together and ski.

 

I cannot get this picture to turn - grr.  Alan did great, he would just fly down the hills.  After a while we decided to try a new hill.  The first part was really easy, we were just gliding down an old road but then it turned off and got much steeper.  The trail divided part way down.  Alan was ahead of me and I saw him drop into the right fork.  All I could see ahead of him were trees.  I got as close to that trail without actually going down it and I couldn't see him anywhere.  I hurried down to the bottom on the left fork, which was steep but tree free.  I didn't see Alan and I was starting to really worry when I saw him slowly emerge, carrying his skis.  I guess he had a pretty bad crash - he was pretty shook up and his knee was hurting.  We went to the lodge to take a break.  He sat for about 5 minutes and then announced he was ready to go again.  Good thing kids bounce back fast!  He was a little more cautious after that, but he still beat me down the mountain every time:

Enjoying lunch in the lodge:

Trying to take a selfie on the chair lift.  I really enjoyed skiing but by the last run my legs were shaking.  I think we counted and figured we went down our part of the mountain 8 or 9 times.  Alan was good to keep going but, luckily for me, we ran out of time.

Here are some tidbits about 10 year old Alan:
Favorite color: I have many
Favorite movie:  Disney movies
Favorite food:  Pizza and split pea soup.  My favorite drink is Root Beer
What do you want to be when you grow up:  Be a Dad!  But as a job... maybe a banker.
Favorite book:  Harry Potter and books written by Brandon Mull and Rick Riordan
Favorite part of school:  Recess
What do you like to do:  I like to read and do screen time and play with friends

Double digits!

My oldest child turned 10 this year!  Alan was so excited, as he is with everything about growing up.  He is almost 5 feet tall and he enjoys standing on his tiptoes and saying he is getting close to my height.  He is really starting to act older too - he has a great sense of humor and he is a big help around the house. 

Getting ready to open presents:

Camping stuff!  That should come in handy on that summer backpacking trip:

 

Opening his Lego game:

Alan went on a treasure hunt to find his gift from his siblings:

There's a clue in the fridge?!?:

He found it!  A box of chocolates!  I got a couple of boxes of chocolates for my birthday and he was very impressed by them.  He was happy to get his own:

It was Alan's turn for a friend party this year.  He decided he wanted a Minions birthday party.  So we had a Minions cake:

and Minion treat bags:

I think we ended up with 7 kids at the party.  We played Minute-to-win-it games and then had pizza and cake and ice cream:

 

Kids at this age can be so loud - they are so exuberant about everything!:

Opening presents:

Then they all went downstairs and watched the Minions movie.  After that it was time for everyone to go home.  Alan had a great time!