Enjoying April Activities

April has been great.  Even though it is spring, the good days have been plentiful, and we have really enjoyed getting out doing things.  Spring break was the entire first week of April.  We enjoyed parks, visiting Grandma at the hospital, the Draper Library, going on the roof of the downtown library, and creating awesome games for Carson's birthday party.  We had a creative and fun spring break. 

Easter was a lot of fun.  We had Grandma's Easter party, an Easter egg hunt in Draper, and fun festivities on Easter Day.  One of my favorite parts was our family home evening when the kids taught the lesson using the Easter egg lesson grandma made for us about the death and Resurrection of the Savior.  What a neat season.  Here are the kids on Easter morning before Church.  Once again, I made the girls dresses.  We did ruffle skirts with the ruffle going horizontal.  It was a fun idea, and they were so excited to wear them.

 April is Carson's birthday month, and here he is blowing out his 8 candles.  I can't believe that he is already 8 YEARS OLD!  It is fun to look back at his baby pics and remember the little Carson, and then marvel at how he turned out.  Carson doesn't choose easy party themes, this year's theme was "time travel".  We built a time machine, and 4 different times to visit (Future, Egyptian, Roman/Greek and Viking).  It was like planning 5 different parties!  I spent hours assembling the party (with lots of help from the kids, especially Audrey), but it turned out really neat, especially the robot future.  We covered boxes with black paper, and chalked them to look like buildings.  We built a city skyline and backdrop and the boys fought other boys dressed up like robots to save the city.  They fought with balloon swords and the robots were trying to carry seed pods (cotton balls) in spoons to take over the city.  It looked really cool in the dark with flashlights spotlighting the city and space ship portal.  My one regret, we had Audrey's friend take the pictures that night, and she never took even one of the Future, so we only have our memories of how it looked.

Poor Kate, she broke her arm again!!!  Just in time for the spring soccer season.  It totally felt like DeJaVu.  We just did this 6  months ago!  She fell down while riding her scooter (on the night of Carson's bday party!)  Luckily, this fracture was easy, no surgery and very easy and much cheaper.  She gets her cast off this next week, but we are keeping that bubble wrap this time.  You never know - we might be needing it for soccer in the fall.

We went on a hike in Big Cottonwood Canyon - and oh boy, the 80+ degree weather in April made it really hot.  We were glad to find shade, including this cool cave we found at the top of a rock scramble.  The kids are good hikers and sports.  Chad itches to get outside so much in the winter - we get very busy when the sun comes out.

This is Graham's first trip to the zoo (except as a baby).  It was actually Kate's class field trip.  We had a wonderful time - hot weather, so we had water and shade breaks and an ice cream at the end.  Graham wasn't so sure about this tiger.  It was walking the fence right next to us, and it made Graham very nervous.  We had a beautiful day.  Now, we just need to decide if we are going along with Audrey on her zoo field trip in two weeks!

What a wonderful month.  It is fun to look back at it!

February/March Mayhem

It has been a crazy month! We have had fun in the snow, but the spring days have been glorious. We went sledding in snow the last weekend in February. We had fun, but the kids complained about being too hot in their winter gear. I guess we are more used to the mountain cold of skiing.

Grahams birthday was February 27th, so he is now 2 years old! He still loves dogs, so we had a dog party for him. He was so happy to open presents, have new toys and eat his own birthday cake. He has also decided to start talking and his use of language is improving so quickly it is hard to imagine how quiet he used to be. He is still very "helpful" around the house and imitates all the jobs the people in in life do. And, he loves being outside. He is always looking for someone to take him outside. The nice weather will be so good for him.

We spent the first weekend in March at the Regional Spelling Bee with Audrey. She got a tough word and got out on the first round. Too bad. It was really sad for her. To celebrate her awesome achievement to make it to the regional bee as only a 4th grader (vs people as old as 8th grade), we spent the afternoon at Airborne Trampoline Arena. So much fun - just what everyone needed to release some extra energy!

We spent our last ski day up at Beaver Mountain. We did an entire day of skiing with the Neiderhausers. Here are the girls and Chad and I as we get ready to hit the slopes. It was so warm that after lunch Kate and I skied without our coats.

Yesterday was the first day of soccer and Grandma's Easter Party. The kids have been SOOO excited. It was a wonderful day, good soccer, fun party, and lots of yummy food and candy. It was a super celebration.

Southern California, how we love you!

We spent the first third of February in California - and we loved it! Shorts, sun, fun loved ones and beach. What could be better.
We spent 4 days at Disneyland, riding the best rides over and over. Kate got to meet princesses and Graham somehow survived the experience. We told him he was going to do "Wees"

The kids are such coaster fans that we rode those the most, but we did our share of Indiana Jones, Pirates, Tower of Terror, and all the rest. We even saw the Aladdin show. It was warm enough that the Splash Mountain ride was refreshing - beautiful days!

Then, we went to Knott's Berry Farm. And, there were literally no people there! It was crazy to just walk on to any ride we wanted and have it sitting there waiting for passengers. It was so fun. It was also fun to experience it all with Nicole, Andy and the girls. They were good sports, and even helped Graham get a nap he much needed.

We had two beach days - and it was so beautiful. We loved the waves, the sand, and exploring Santa Monica Pier.

We enjoyed our time with the Halls and the Kanes while we were in California. It was so neat to feel like we had a home away from home. We were well cared for and great conversations.

What a fun vacation. Now we are back to cold, snow and school. As we were driving through snow storms on the way back, it was tempting to return. But, we have returned and the we are back into the swing of things. Never a dull moment!

January Begins 2012

My first project of the year was to get Audrey and Carson's bedrooms updated. It was fun to paint furniture and a shelf, buy frames, make art work and lampshades. It all looks so much better now. It is sooo rewarding to redo rooms in the house. I am pretty addicted when I get started and I hardly slept or ate because I was so excited to get it done.

The science fair was fun. The girls did an experiment with a water rocket. Audrey and her friend Tierra did a great job!

January was also the spelling bee. We were in charge of the spelling bee this year, and so it was a lot of work putting it on. It was very rewarding to see the kids practice so hard for the bees. There were two - one for the lower grades, one for the higher. We had a child in each so we had a neutral moderator and judges. Anyway - THEY BOTH WON their bees!!! We have two champion spellers now. What an amazing event. We were a little surprised, but very happy for them. Here they are as they prepare to spell their hearts out.

Graham, well, yesterday he was a rock star - and here are his moves. What a little nut!

We're off to Disneyland in a few more days. I can't wait! It should be so much fun!

Merry Christmas, 2011!

Well, it was a fun December - parties, santa and presents. We are grateful to be able to fill our lives with 4 kids who are so excited for Christmas. We had so many countdowns, service charts, secret santas, and more planned by our kids during the season. It was fun to share their excitement. Chad always does a daddy date and takes each kid Christmas shopping and to do a fun activity. It is one of our highlights to see what they buy for each other. It is all so cute.

Anyway, we have enjoyed a little winter swimming, a trip to the new Natural History Museum of Utah, Kate's dance day, class parties, and fun family parties.

Christmas was pretty magical. Santa was able to fulfill most of the kids wishes, and that was really fun! Anyway, it is hard to believe that another year is drawing to a close. I am just really grateful for this time I have to be a mom to these wonderful kids!

Gnarly November

Well, November has been great. We had several noteworthy events, but mostly just good family fun. We have been using our new passes at Trafalga - fun for a couple of hours on a Saturday!

Carson has earned his yellow belt! He started in August, and has been pretty dedicated to practicing. We are proud of his progress. He now gets to be in the same class as his friend, yea!

We had a fun family adventure - Layton Surf-n-Swim with the whole Iverson clan. Weeze and family we love you!

We also went to the new children's exhibit at the church history museum with the Halls. That turned out to be more adventure than we bargained for. Graham got lost - and their were about 20 people searching for him. We looked for over 10 minutes (no idea exactly how long, it seemed like an eternity). No sign. I was starting to get pretty scared. Finally, someone followed a prompting to look on the elevator. Sure enough, he was locked inside with the doors closed. What an elevator ride, we were all so relieved!

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We hosted my sister's family and the Iverson parents. Here are the kids enjoying their turkey dinner! We had a wonderful day - very low key and good company.

Now it is Christmas time!

The Warm Sun and Blue Skies of October

We went to several parks in October. We loved the fall weather, the bright sun, and the general peaceful feeling everywhere. Fall is so beautiful! We had several days off of school, and we made the most of the Indian summer we have been having. There are three park finds in this picture: West Jordan City Park (amazing toys!), Memory Grove in downtown SLC - it was like a nature hike in the middle of the city, and Scera park in Orem with Jen's son Joshua. What a great way to spend the fall.



In a creative burst, we thought of the idea of doing the "domino effect" with books. We built several designs, but our favorite one was this spiral design. It worked perfectly, spiraling around into the center when we started the effect. It also kept several active boys amused! Just what we needed during one nap for Graham.




We took Audrey and Carson to a football game - and it was once again beautiful weather and a great day to watch the BYU cougars. It was also nice to get a win. They have been a little sparse this season.

And - got to love Halloween. Our kids have been on a sugar high for days. They had parties and parades all day, trick-or-treating at dad's office, and then the main event that night. It is amazing how quickly Graham picked up on how to score candy. The kids were so excited, and it is fun to do Halloween with them! Graham was a football player, Kate a fairy, Carson a mummy and Audrey a rock star.

One of my favorite everyday good times as a mom includes our hiking and exploring this fall in the perfect fall weather.