Collin and Weston's well check-ups happened to be on April Fools Day.
They wanted to trick the doctor so Collin pretended he had a bloody nose, Weston pretended he hurt his eye and Olive pretended she was pregnant!! I was dying!
I told them I had baked a cake for dessert that night. It wasn't the best trick, but hey, I tried! The balloon didn't pop like I had envisioned. Some teddy grahams salvaged the disappointing dessert!
He likes a close seat!
Pouring sand on my feet for entertainment.
Someone got into the lip gloss!
At least they have each other sometimes while waiting for their siblings' games!
Collin and Rusty's teams played each other and Collin's team won, but Rusty struck Collin out!
Conference weekend!
During priesthood session, mom bought out Gecko Grill and we feasted while the kids played!
Madeline snuggle time!
HOW did he fall asleep like this?!
I watched Scarlett and Landon one day and didn't think he'd take a nap. I was fully prepared to have to take a nap next to him (oh darn!), but he fell right asleep with no fuss! Such a sweet boy!
My mom has told us about Craig's tennis games for years now! We FINALLY made it to his last home game of his senior year. Talk about procrastinating. And I hardly got to watch because I was doling out snacks, trying to keep the kids quiet and making sure Tanner didn't run away. Who knew you had to be so quiet during tennis?!
My bathroom is always trashed. My shoes pulled out of the closet. Toys left everywhere. Clothes dumped from the hampers. Evidence that I have a bored companion while I'm getting ready.
I can't help but be amused when he dramatically covers his face with his hands while crying.
Another performance! This time at a school carnival in south Gilbert. It was on a Friday night, and while I wished for a night at home, it turned out to be really fun to have an evening with just Olive. We got dinner at some food trucks they had there and I let her buy a new bow at a pop up shop. I love my tiny dancer.
Grandpa came to cheer on the kids at their games! And characteristically, he brought donuts!
That evening we were at the Chandler Arts Center for another competition.
Holy Week!!
I changed up a couple activities. Instead of building sugar temples, we made stained glass art with colored pasta. I loved their creations!
Collin's on the bottom left was Joseph Smith getting the gold plates from the Hill Cumorah. Weston and Olive did angels!
Plugging away at the 3rd Harry Potter book! I truly didn't know one of the kids had taken this picture, but I'm glad to have it! We finished the book at the end of the school year. Took us forever to read!
Open gym for this guy! We loved every second!
He couldn't figure out how to jump off the edge into the foam pit. Watching him try was the funniest thing!
Crockpot dinner at the ball fields. It's still so cold in the evenings!
The Young Women did a fundraising dinner luau and we got to watch a Polynesian Cultural Center alum juice a coconut and do a fire show! With no shorts under that wrap, front row seats almost got us a view of more than just coconuts! ;)
Yes, Tanner, you just take your time with that new found skill.
I didn't get drawn to be a parent chaperone for Weston's field trip but it made me so happy to get this picture from his friend's mom! I'm so glad that if I couldn't be with him, Katie could! I think they went to the Phoenix Botanical Gardens.
So cute when other little kids want to play with Tanner.
The Easter Bunny came on Friday morning! We were having cousins spend the night that night so I didn't want them to feel left out on Saturday morning.
Olive got a silky nightgown just like the one I had when growing up!
Our ward had a egg hunt and breakfast in the park Friday morning since there was no school.
We got to watch the Goodman kids for a couple of days while their parents were leaders at youth conference! Della taught Tanner her finer ways.
My favorite night of Holy Week! Passover dinner! My parents, Craig, Marcie and her kids and the Goodman kids joined! We planted wheat grass a few weeks ago for an FHE lesson, talking about Lazarus being raised from the dead and how life can come through even the darkest times. I try to spend at least a month of FHE lessons on Christ, leading up to Holy Week. I thought it looked nice next to our Seder plate!
Her belly life makes my LIFE!!
Easter egg hunt and festivities at Grandma Dog's house!
We made resurrection rolls before bed so they could rise overnight!
Easter Sunday!
I did the basket hair again on Olive and it made quite the splash at church. And I mean, SPLASH. I almost felt bad... like I had created irreverence! People were pointing and nudging their neighbors to look. One man even took a picture right there in the chapel! Everyone was commenting to me about how amazing it was. I think it was the closest we'll ever feel to celebrities.
We had our little lesson at the cemetery before church and ate our resurrection rolls! The kids were so funny wondering where the marshmallow went.
Joshua has a headstone now. It looks really nice. So grateful for our Savior and His Atonement. Visiting Joshua's grave is a real life example of how Christ's sacrifice impacts our family!
Driving home we passed the Mesa temple under construction. It's so weird to see it all naked and lonely looking!
I think when a man is willing to help in nursery, holding other people's crying kids, you've found a keeper.
We forgot to light our oil lamps at the Passover dinner so we did it at Easter dinner at my parents. The black smoke was profuse but no smoke alarms went off!
Boy oh boy, finding candy in eggs is eggstra exciting!
But finding $$$ in eggs is even better!! Grandpa and Grandma Easter bunny are sure generous!
Waa waa waaaaa!! Other treasures were found, too!
It's always a very busy week, but my heart is full afterward! I love Jesus Christ! He is my Savior and Redeemer. My testimony of Him is strong! Worshiping Him all week is surely my favorite family tradition of the year.
My mom has been cleaning out her house this past year and found a toy truck from the 90's that said "Travis Tanker" on the box! So guess who inherited it?!
Emily was in town so some of us girl cousins got together for dinner in downtown Gilbert. Of all the girls nights I go to, I have to say, anytime I spend with my cousins is my favorite. There is just something so unique to sharing a childhood and being raised by siblings. It bonds you. I really love these girls.
Exhibit 184 in the "How My Children Sleep" collection.
So purty.
Lots of costume changes around here.
Letter boards have been trendy for awhile now, but I just got one. I think it will probably always have a joke on it.
My juicer also makes pasta so I tried making spaghetti. I don't love pasta or Italian food, but HOMEMADE pasta is in it's own category. Love me some of that! Sadly, this did NOT taste good. Ugh. And of course I made it when the sister missionaries were over. So disappointing.
I had to take a picture of this night because it was a super rare, Friday night when nothing was going on. So we STAYED HOME!! Did you hear that?! We STAYED HOME!!!!! And had family movie night watching Beethoven. The happiness was so thick I was soaking it through the air!
For Travis's birthday I tried to plan a date night that was something a little out of the ordinary. We went ax throwing! I bought tickets for Reddin and Karen to join us too. It turned out to be quite fun! I was super nervous to try it, but did pretty darn good *dusts my shoulder off*. Honestly, I just love being with Travis, so anything we do together is a good time. We went to dinner afterward, then I headed home to relieve the babysitter and Travis went to see the latest Avenger movie with Reddin. If it wasn't 3 hours long, I might've given it a shot, but come on. 3 hours of the Hulk and Superman beating the crap out of each other?? Pass.
Her final dance competition was at the Mesa Arts Center. We were there from 2pm-9pm. In and out of the dressing rooms. Practicing in the hallways. Waiting for the awards ceremony. Sitting through the longest awards ceremony EVER. It's so fun to see how much she has improved though! And she LOVES it. She was bouncy and smiley and as happy as possible!
Josie might need someone to drive her back to Utah and their car is a stick shift. In the event that I was the one to drive her, I knew I needed to learn how to drive a stick shift car. We borrowed Sawyer's car one Sunday night and Travis tried to teach me. WOOF. I was a wreck. I know it shouldn't be so hard, but I was terrified and did horrible. We went around the neighborhood for a while then I gave up. I was sweating through my clothes and couldn't take the stress. I could tell Travis was frustrated with me. Maybe if I was on some closed course where I didn't have to worry about getting into a car accident, I could manage. But for some reason the steps weren't sticking to me. I needed to have a constant voice telling me what to do. At any rate, I fully accept that I'll never drive a stick shift car. I'll hang my head and be that person.
Olive's class got to go on a field trip to the new OdySea aquarium in Scottsdale. I didn't chaperone, but I met her there. Tanner made things a little hard, but I'm glad I went. She had been really nervous to go and was really happy I was there. This picture makes her look so grown up! My big Kindergartner! People comment that she looks like me and in this picture, I definitely see it.
I know he is one of God's creatures, but oy vey!! The ugliest fish we saw!
His run! The way his legs flip out! I die!
Who even wants to go to Target without a helper? Hmmm??!
It's coming along! They decided to add on stake offices and a font, so now they're saying it won't be done until fall, instead of the end of summer. Sigh.
