Spring break part one (Arizona)

We headed out late Sunday after the baby blessing / lunch. Unfortunately we had 7 plus hours ahead of us and snow in our path. As we made our way south we kept hoping for a break in the weather, however it just kept getting worse. For over an hour Casey was driving around 45 mph and white knuckling it between Fillmore and Cedar City. It finally broke just before St. George and the temperature kept rising as we headed to Vegas. The kids were troopers all along the way (just a bit cranky around dinner time). We pulled into our hotel around 12:30. It took a bit for the kids (especially Alice) to go down so sleep was minimal, but we made it!

Vegas was our meeting point with Brett and Vanessa. We all left that morning on our spring break adventure! Our first stop was the Hoover Dam. We walked along the bridge and got some energy out with the kids.

We hit up an old mining town (Chloride) around lunch time. More wiggle time opportunities for the kids. While the wind was bitter and the sites a bit wah wah, the kids didn't mind. We found a playground and a falling down jail to keep kids entertained.

 

Next we made our way towards Phoenix, spotted countless cacti and lots of desert. We had dinner at Cody and Mia's home.  After dinner we went on a walk around their complex the kids dipped their feet ( some more than that) into the pool and we chatted together. We stayed over at their apartment while Brett and Vanessa stayed at a friend's in Phoenix.
Tuesday we went out to Saguaro Lake. We had lunch and hiked around the Lake. Vanessa,  James, and Thomas made it part way. Mia, Max, Kendal, Becca, and I made it a bit further then turned back. Peter and David headed up the adventure with their dad's and Alice tracking them, they made it the furthest but not quite the end. Poor David met up with a cactus on his way back.

  After our hike we went to a Train park. The kids loved the play ground. There were some full size train cars to see and there was a neat building full of model trains and lands. (Papa would've been in heaven!) Peter was captivated and even got to go into a side room with one of the "engineers / model builders". After the museum the kids got to ride a little train around the park and a carousel. Alice enjoyed the train ride, but didn't like going up and down on the horse.

Mia, Cody, and Max joined us all at Organ Stop Pizza for dinner. It was so cool!! We walked into a packed room, got the kids sat down and the organist played Star Wars; the kids went nuts. The experience was great and exceeded all expectations!! He even played Bohemian Rapsidy that Casey requested. We went back to Cody and Mia's for ice cream. We spent Wednesday morning there as well before we headed out. There wasn't enough time with them, but I'm so glad we got to see them!

Some March, Early Easter, Isaac 's blessing

While I can't get behind every random celebration that shows up on a calendar or web I am in favor of traditions and memory making. So I decided to add Pie day to our traditions. I made a yummy Samoa pie and a chicken pot pie this year. Casey and I enjoyed both, Peter thought my dessert pie was gorgeous and Kendal raved about it as well! Success. 

Alice loves to accessorize and get into things lately. It's a new adventure and accessory everyday. 

The kids had early release a couple of Friday's ago. We invited Kendal's buddies Brook and Meadow to spend the afternoon with us. Kendal adores these girls and I was happy to have them over. Echo joined as well. We did some dollar store science experiments and the girls played awhile. Peter got to go to a birthday party later that day at Jump Time for twins in his class; Victor and Valeria.

Because we were heading out of town Saturday and would be gone for Easter the Easter bunny came early! The kids woke up to a note to find their baskets. Kendal and Peter got Walkie Talkies, all of the kids got swim suits and hatchimals to enjoy along with some goodies. It was a quick morning celebration as we stuffed the car full and headed out for our break. 

We made it to Logan at lunchtime. Katherine and my mom brought lunch for everyone out to Nanas. Nana has been down with pneumonia so we really wanted a visit. We spent some time with Nana, cleaned some, and even saw my aunts Linda and Peggy while there. I'm so lucky to still have my Nana here;  she's determined and is sticking around and I love it. My kids love her so much as do I! We spent the evening at my parents. Sunday we got to attend baby Issac's blessing. I love the spirit that surrounds babies and the special event like a blessing to celebrate them!

Olympics, life, Seuss, spring?

With the Olympics going on a few weeks ago we decided to fill a few evenings with Daddy home and do our own family Olympics.
Our first evening the kids did action figure skating. They danced around with a Barbie and Super Man; and both came out with gold. We also did a biathlon that night. We had to shoot Nerf guns and run a "course". I won Gold with the fastest time, Casey won Silver, Kendal won Bronze. Peter 4th.
The next night we did curling; where we tossed balls towards a target. I took Gold, Kendal took Silver, and Peter got Bronze. Casey was last. The kids were wanting more so we made up some more games for the next day (Saturday). We used Peter's car track to do the luge and 2 man bobsled with cars and mini figures. We all accomplished our goal in the luge (hitting the wall). In the bobsled Kendal got gold, Peter got silver, and Alice's car got Bronze. We did the a ski jump where we shot paper guys off of a straw. Casey won Gold, Peter won Silver, and Kendal won Bronze. Last we did a speed skating relay. Casey holding Alice plus Peter against Kendal and I. We slid around the living room on paper plates. Casey, Peter, and Alice took Gold. Kendal and I received  Silver. I baked doughnuts as our medals. It was fun to do all of these events together. Peter was pretty upset the actual Olympics were ending the next day, but we assured him they'll come again.
Final medal tally
Alice, 1 gold, 1 bronze
Peter, 2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze
Kendal, 2 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze
Mom, 2 gold, 2 silver
Dad, 2 gold, 1 silver






Our days flow together lately. Kendal is off to school early and her afternoons are filled with homework, reading, chores, piano, and most days she tries to squeeze in some play time outside with Peter and neighbor Echo. Peter is up with Kendal in the mornings, but he gets to hang out with Alice and me till kindergarten. We play,  get homework done, and do chores, then we have an early lunch so Peter can get off to school by noon.

Alice gets a few hours with just mommy in the early afternoon. We play, read, and do whatever we want. Once or twice a week we head out on errands / grocery shopping. Then we get some magical time where Alice naps in a quiet house and I can attack some cleaning jobs and get stuff done (with the occasional lazy time to myself). Alice loves to wear things around get neck (necklaces, Wii cords, belts, jump ropes, lanyards, etc.) and get into things lately (toilet, garbage, under beds, cupboards, boxes, nothing is safe anymore). She's also learned to fold her arms. 💜

The kids had Dr. Seuss week this week. I was lame and didn't get any pictures of them,  however I can say what they did. Monday they wore bow ties to school. Alice also sported one that day. (Picture below, she's easier th capture ; ) Tuesday was twin day and They wore their Kimberly bulldog shirts. Wednesday Kendal wore her clothes backwards with her hair made into a bow for wacky day. Peter had school off so we hit up story time at the library for their Dr. Seuss birthday party. With games and cookies as a bonus! Thursday they wore green and Friday the wore sweats for read ins at school. Kendal did a book report on 'Oh the places you'll go' at school. She also finished her latest AR goal for reading and  is continuing to earn honors in reading.

Casey's back to coaching tomorrow so he took Kendal and Peter out for some quality time Friday. They went and watched the FFA fundraiser of donkey basketball. Casey just got to be a spectator this time and Peter even pet and sat on a donkey (even if it was just ten seconds : ).

My sweet Nana has been in the hospital with pneumonia. She's slowly on the mend and we really hope she continues to get better. I'm so lucky my kids have her. We love her so much! It would have been papas 88th birthday on Friday. I reminisced with the kids about my memories of Papa and Nana and we took them out for ice cream to celebrate him.

We're crossing our fingers snow is on its way out and the temperatures continue to warm up. Looking forward to  sunshine, spring break, Easter, and  family time in the coming weeks. 

Love, Us

Casey: We've been able to have more time with Daddy these past couple of weeks and are enjoying it until he's sucked into track season. The kids love time with him and I'm grateful for his presence. Since he wasn't going to State he got to go to a teachers conference this past weekend over in Idaho Falls. He came home inspired to bulk up his curriculum and is looking forward to utilizing what he learned. 

Marianne: I finally got around to making Casey his new blanket. It was huge and so cumbersome to deal with and sew, (and my body is still aching) but I'm fine and hopefully it'll last longer than the last one. Major props to my mom, mom in law, Grandma Mac, and Casey's aunties who quilt and make blankets. So much work! I also finally stole a bit of time and got a hair cut. 6 + inches off. I'm not in love, but I'll get used to it. I'm still nursing Alice a bit. While I'm so ready to be done I know I'm giving Alice extra immunities through sick season and I've learned my body has to ease into ending and I can't just stop nursing abruptly. 

Kendal:  Kendal's afternoons are always full. She has homework, piano practice, spelling, reading, chores. Some days she'll manage her time well and gets all done and gets to go play, other days she's slower getting her "to do's" done and they take till dinner time.  She likes to talk about her day and it always includes her buddies Brook and Medow. I'm so glad she's meet these sweet girls and had so much fun with them and her other buddies at school. She likes to go to waking club twice a week during lunch at school also. She's walked over twenty five miles this year! She got to go to Cousin David's Olympic birthday party Saturday. They played games and she came home with a couple of second place, a third place, and a first place medal. Poor girl caught a bug over the weekend and spent Sunday night in and out of the bathroom and Monday on the couch. She's doing better now and got to go to achievement days Tuesday which she loves (even though she doesn't understand what they are). 

Peter: While Peter still gets up early he's also decided lately to wear his PJ's as long as possible every morning. He's watches Ready Jet Go (a pbs cartoon about space) most mornings while I shower and eat. He divides the rest of his morning playing, creating, doing homework, chores, and bugging little sister before I scoot him off to school. Since he gets his work done before school he happily goes off to play most afternoons, some days though he's around and can be in the mood to pester his sisters. He's doing so well reading with me lately. While Kendal was at David's party Peter went out with me. We picked out a new Lego to build and he got a happy meal to enjoy! Peter also caught a bit of the bug and spent Monday laying around and even taking a rare nap. He also stayed home today because his stomach was giving him grief. I Love his imagination also as you can see with his pirate and ninja pictures below. 

Alice:  Alice has decided waking is the best and she's just taken off this past couple of weeks. She's waking about 90% if the time. She also has this thing where she either has to be holding multiple things or wearing extra things as she walks around. She'll go into my room undo bags and nightstands, and come out with pencils or goodies from daddy's night stand. She also loves to drape things around her neck. Mostly she likes to wear Pete's belt like a scarf, but she also loves her necklace or random clothing draped around her. I love her little chatter and girly talk these days. She likes to wave to the bus drivers and cars at the bus stop. She also is likes to lounge around with mom and dad when the other two go to bed. 

We watched Rhett and Arias kids a couple of times in the past week. The kids had a blast, but we'll just say Casey wasn't meant to have seven kids or a load of girls around. 

I heart attacked the kids and Casey for Valentine's. They got some flannel sheets and goodies from us and sweet books from my parents. Casey picked us up some pizza and we enjoyed the evening together. 

We've had the Olympics on quite a bit this past week and even did a picnic on the floor a couple of Sunday's ago to watch the Olympics. Kendal says she loves it all and Peter likes anything with jumps.

Like I said Presidents day the kids were sick so it was a very lazy day. Both kids took naps and Casey played the Wii with them.